Spring assembly

Claim 2

A row of coils formed from a continuous length of wire, the segments of wire interconnecting adjacent coils in said row each being substantially Z-shaped and disposed alternately in first and second planes generally perpendicular to said coils at the ends thereof, portions of said Z-shaped segments extending beyond the periphery of said coils to facilitate spaced attachment to an adjacent row of coils, and wherein said Z-shaped interconnecting segments generally define a rectangle of width greater than the maximum diameter of said coils, adjacent coils being situated at diagonally opposite corners of said rectangle, the axes of coils in said rows thereby being disposed alternately in two offset parallel planes.

Claim 3

A spring assembly comprising in combination, a plurality of spaced parallel rows of coils each as defined in claim 1, adjacent rows being connected by means comprising a zig-zag shaped continuous length or wire, bends of said zig-zag connector wire being pivotally attached to corners of said Z-shaped segments.

Claim 4

Means as defined in claim 2 wherein the distance between every sixth bend of said zig-zag wire is approximately equal to the between-axis spacing of alternate coils in one of said rows.

Claim 5

A spring assembly as defined in claim 2 wherein the coils within each row are like-handed, coils in alternate rows being of opposite hand.

Claim 6

A spring assembly as defined in claim 2 further comprising first and second border wires peripherally surrounding said spring assembly, and respectively disposed in said first and second planes at the upper and lower surfaces of said spring assembly.

Claim 7

A spring assembly as defined in claim 2 wherein a first set of said zig-zag connectors are disposed in said first plane at the upper spring assembly surface, and a second set of said zig-zag connectors are disposed in said second plane at the lower spring assembly surface.

Claim 8

A spring assembly as defined in claim 6 wherein bends of said zig-zag connectors are looped about portions of said Z-shaped interconnection segments to form pivotal couplings.

Claim 9

A spring assembly comprising: a plurality of rows of coils, each of said rows being formed from a single continuous piece of wire and containing a plurality of coils interconnected by Z-shaped wire segments, alternate ones of said Z-shaped interconnection segments being disposed relatively in the planes of the upper and lower surfaces of said spring assembly, the axes of alternate ones of said coils in one of said rows being disposed in a first plane perpendicular to the upper and lower surfaces of said spring assembly, the axes of the other coils in said row being substantially parallel and disposed in a second plane parallel to, but displaced from said first plane, the coils of each row being connected to the adjacent row of coils by means of first and second sets of said zig-zag shaped connectors each formed of a continuous length of wire, said sets being disposed respectively in the planes of said upper and lower surfaces of said spring assembly, the bends of said zig-zag connectors being pivotally attached to said Z-shaped interconnection segments.

Claim 10

A spring assembly comprising: a plurality of rows of coils, each of said rows being formed from a single continuous piece of wire and containing a plurality of coils interconnected by Z-shaped wire segments, alternate ones of said Z-shaped interconnection segments being disposed relatively in the planes of the upper and lower surfaces of said spring assembly, the axes of alternate ones of said coils in one of said rows being disposed in a first plane perpendicular to the upper and lower surfaces of said spring assembly, the axes of the other coils in said row being substantially parallel and disposed in a second plane parallel to, but displaced from said first plane, the coils of each row being connected to the adjacent row of coils by means of first and second sets of said zig-zag shaped connectors each formed of a continuous length of wire, said sets being disposed respectively in the planes of said upper and lower surfaces of said spring assembly, the bends of said zig-zag connectors being pivotally attached to said Z-shaped interconnection segments.

Claim 11

A spring assembly as defined in claim 15 wherein the distance between every sixth bend of one of said zig-zag connectors is substantially equal to the between-axis spacing of alternate coils in one of said rows.

Claim 12

A spring assembly as defined in claim 8 wherein, when viewed in a columnar direction perpendicular to said rows, alternate Z-shaped interconnection segments are disposed in the plane of said upper surface of said spring assembly, the other Z-shaped interconnection segments in said column being disposed in the plane of said bottom surface of said spring assembly.

Claim 13

A spring assembly as defined in claim 10 wherein the axes of coils in adjacent rows lie in planes disposed in the columnar direction and of equidistant spacing as measured in the row direction.

Claim 14

A spring assembly according to claim 8 further comprising: first and second generally planar border members disposed respectively in the planes of said upper and lower surfaces of said spring assembly, each border member comprising a pair of end rails, a pair of side rails, and corner means connecting adjacent ends of said rails, each rail having a plurality of hook means integrally formed therein for fastening said coils to said border members.

Claim 15

A spring assembly comprising: a plurality of rows of coils, each of said rows being formed from a single continuous piece of wire and containing a plurality of coils interconnected by Z-shaped wire segments, alternate ones of said Z-shaped interconnection segments being disposed respectively in the planes of the upper and lower surfaces of said spring assembly, and first and second pairs of border wires disposed respectively in the planes of the upper and lower surfaces of said spring assembly, each of said pairs comprising an outer border wire peripherally surrounding said spring assembly, and an inner border wire parallel to said outer border wire and spaced therefrom by a distance approximately equal to half the diameter of the coils in one of said rows.

Claim 16

A spring assembly comprising: a plurality of rows of coils, each of said rows being formed from a single continuous piece of wire and containing a plurality of coils interconnected by Z-shaped wire segments, alternate ones of said Z-shaped interconnection segments being disposed respectively in the planes of the upper and lower surfaces of said spring assembly, and first and second pairs of border wires disposed respectively in the planes of the upper and lower surfaces of said spring assembly, each of said pairs comprising an outer border wire peripherally surrounding said spring assembly, and an inner border wire parallel to said outer border wire and spaced therefrom by a distance approximately equal to half the diameter of the coils in one of said rows.

Claim 17

A spring assembly as defined in claim 13 further comprising a zig-zag connector formed of a continuous length of wire, adjacent bends of said zig-zag connector being looped respectively about said outer and said inner border wires to provide mutually pivotable spaced interconnection therebetween.

Claim 18

A spring assembly as defined in claim 14 wherein the end coils in alternate rows are attached to said outer border wire, the end coils in the other rows being connected to said inner border wire.

Claim 19

A spring assembly as defined in claim 15 wherein said end coils are pivotally attached to said border wire by means of said zig-zag connector.

Claim 20

A spring assembly comprising: a plurality of rows of coils having upper and lower surfaces disposed in common respective upper and lower planes; first and second pairs of border wires disposed respectively in said upper and lower planes, each of said pairs comprising an outer border wire peripherally surrounding said spring assembly and an inner border wire parallel to said outer border wire and spaced inwardly therefrom, said border wires being attached to said coil rows; and a zig-zag connector formed of a continuous length of wire, adjacent bends of said zig-zag connector being looped respectively about said outer and inner border wires to provide mutually spaced interconnection therebetween.

Claim 21

A spring assembly comprising: a plurality of rows of coils having upper and lower surfaces disposed in common respective upper and lower planes; first and second pairs of border wires disposed respectively in said upper and lower planes, each of said pairs comprising an outer border wire peripherally surrounding said spring assembly and an inner border wire parallel to said outer border wire and spaced inwardly therefrom, said border wires being attached to said coil rows; and a zig-zag connector formed of a continuous length of wire, adjacent bends of said zig-zag connector being looped respectively about said outer and inner border wires to provide mutually spaced interconnection therebetween.