← Back to Patent Explorer
US3911511A Expired / Lapsed US ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Spring assembly

Assignee: Leggett and Platt Inc
•
Filing: 1974-11-29
•
Granted: 1975-10-14
•
Expires: 1994-11-29
📄 Original PDF 🌐 Google Patents 🔄 Sync Now

Abstract

Abstract A spring assembly for mattresses, innersprings, and the like. The assembly comprises rows of coils, each row comprising a continuous length of wire formed into a plurality of like-handed coils interconnected by Z-shaped wire segments alternately disposed at the top and bottom of the coils. Adjacent rows of coils are of the same hand or twist and are coupled by a helical wire wound through overlapping Z-shaped wire segments.

Inventors

  • 👤 Larry Higgins
  • 👤 Henry Zapletal

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction US
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-11-05 06:48
CPC Classifications
A; A47; A47C; A47C27/00; A47C27/04; A47C27/06; A47C27/07; A47C27/065; A47C27/068

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 17
Claim 1
Independent Claim 242 words
A spring assembly comprising, a plurality of rows of coils, each of said rows of coils being formed from a continuous length of wire, segments of wire interconnecting adjacent coils in each of said rows, said segments each being substantially Z-shaped and disposed alternately in first and second planes generally perpendicular to the axis of said coils at the ends thereof, portions of said Z-shaped segments extending beyond the periphery of said coils, said Z-shaped interconnecting segments each generally defining a rectangle of width greater than the maximum diameter of said coils, adjacent coils within each of said rows being situated at diagonally opposite corners of said rectangles, the axes of coils in each of said rows thereby being disposed alternately in two offset parallel planes, sections of each of said Z-shaped interconnecting segments of each row being overlapped relative to Z-shaped interconnecting segments of adjacent rows, helical spring means extending parallel to said rows for the length of said rows, said helical spring means being wound through said overlapped sections of said Z-shaped interconnecting segments so as to secure said rows of coils in an assembled relation, and said overlapped sections of said Z-shaped interconnecting segments being radiused, the radii of said overlapping sectionS being substantially greater than the radius of said helical wire so that said helical wire permits relative pivotal movement between said overlapped sections of said Z-shaped interconnecting segments of said rows but precludes all other relative movement.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 242 words
A spring assembly comprising, a plurality of rows of coils, each of said rows of coils being formed from a continuous length of wire, segments of wire interconnecting adjacent coils in each of said rows, said segments each being substantially Z-shaped and disposed alternately in first and second planes generally perpendicular to the axis of said coils at the ends thereof, portions of said Z-shaped segments extending beyond the periphery of said coils, said Z-shaped interconnecting segments each generally defining a rectangle of width greater than the maximum diameter of said coils, adjacent coils within each of said rows being situated at diagonally opposite corners of said rectangles, the axes of coils in each of said rows thereby being disposed alternately in two offset parallel planes, sections of each of said Z-shaped interconnecting segments of each row being overlapped relative to Z-shaped interconnecting segments of adjacent rows, helical spring means extending parallel to said rows for the length of said rows, said helical spring means being wound through said overlapped sections of said Z-shaped interconnecting segments so as to secure said rows of coils in an assembled relation, and said overlapped sections of said Z-shaped interconnecting segments being radiused, the radii of said overlapping sectionS being substantially greater than the radius of said helical wire so that said helical wire permits relative pivotal movement between said overlapped sections of said Z-shaped interconnecting segments of said rows but precludes all other relative movement.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 25 words
The spring assembly as defined in claim 1 wherein the coils within each row are like-handed and the coils in adjacent rows are also like-handed.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 29 words
The spring assembly of claim 1 in which said radius of said overlapped sections of said Z-shaped interconnecting segments is approximately eight times the radius of said helical wire.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 233 words
A spring assembly comprising a plurality of rows of coils, each of said rows being formed from a single continuous piece of wire and each of said rows containing a plurality of coils interconnected by Z-shaped interconnecting segments, alternate ones of said Z-shaped interconnecting segments being disposed 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, sections of each of said Z-shaped interconnecting segments of each row being overlapped relative to Z-shaped interconnecting segments of an adjacent row, helical spring means extending parallel to said rows for the length of said rows, said helical spring means being wound through said overlapped sections of said Z-shaped interconnecting segments so as to secure said rows of coils in an assembled relation, and said overlapped sections of said Z-shaped interconnecting segments being radiused, the radii of said overlapping sections being substantially greater than the radius of said helical wire so that said helical wire permits relative pivotal movement between said overlapped sections of said Z-shaped interconnecting segments of said rows but precludes all other relative movement.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 233 words
A spring assembly comprising a plurality of rows of coils, each of said rows being formed from a single continuous piece of wire and each of said rows containing a plurality of coils interconnected by Z-shaped interconnecting segments, alternate ones of said Z-shaped interconnecting segments being disposed 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, sections of each of said Z-shaped interconnecting segments of each row being overlapped relative to Z-shaped interconnecting segments of an adjacent row, helical spring means extending parallel to said rows for the length of said rows, said helical spring means being wound through said overlapped sections of said Z-shaped interconnecting segments so as to secure said rows of coils in an assembled relation, and said overlapped sections of said Z-shaped interconnecting segments being radiused, the radii of said overlapping sections being substantially greater than the radius of said helical wire so that said helical wire permits relative pivotal movement between said overlapped sections of said Z-shaped interconnecting segments of said rows but precludes all other relative movement.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 61 words
The spring assembly of claim 4 in which said overlapped sections of said Z-shaped interconnecting segments are radiused, the radii of said overlapping sections being substantially greater than the radius of said helical wire so that said helical wire permits relative pivotal movement between said overlapped sections of said Z-shaped interconnecting segments of said rows but precludes all other relative movement.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 29 words
The spring assembly of claim 4 in which said radius of said overlapped sections of said Z-shaped interconnecting segments is approximately eight times the radius of said helical wire.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim 189 words
A spring assembly comprising, a plurality of rows of coils, each of said rows of coils being formed from a continuous length of wire, segments of wire interconnecting adjacent coils in each of said rows, said segments each being substantially Z-shaped and disposed alternately in first and second planes generally perpendicular to the axis of said coils at the ends thereof, portions of said Z-shaped segments extending beyond the periphery of said coils, sections of each of said Z-shaped interconnecting segments of each row being overlapped relative to Z-shaped interconnecting segments of adjacent rows, helical spring means extending parallel to said rows for the length of said rows, said helical spring means being wound through said overlapped sections of said Z-shaped interconnecting segments so as to secure said rows of coils in an assembled relation, and said overlapped sections of said Z-shaped interconnecting segments being radiused, the radii of said overlapping sections being substantially greater than the radius of said helical wire so that said helical wire permits relative pivotal movement between said overlapped sections of said Z-shaped interconnecting segments of said rows but precludes all other relative movement.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim 189 words
A spring assembly comprising, a plurality of rows of coils, each of said rows of coils being formed from a continuous length of wire, segments of wire interconnecting adjacent coils in each of said rows, said segments each being substantially Z-shaped and disposed alternately in first and second planes generally perpendicular to the axis of said coils at the ends thereof, portions of said Z-shaped segments extending beyond the periphery of said coils, sections of each of said Z-shaped interconnecting segments of each row being overlapped relative to Z-shaped interconnecting segments of adjacent rows, helical spring means extending parallel to said rows for the length of said rows, said helical spring means being wound through said overlapped sections of said Z-shaped interconnecting segments so as to secure said rows of coils in an assembled relation, and said overlapped sections of said Z-shaped interconnecting segments being radiused, the radii of said overlapping sections being substantially greater than the radius of said helical wire so that said helical wire permits relative pivotal movement between said overlapped sections of said Z-shaped interconnecting segments of said rows but precludes all other relative movement.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim 43 words
The spring assembly of claim 7 in which said Z-shaped interconnecting segments each generally define a rectangle of width greater than the maximum diameter of said coils, the coils within each row being like-handed and the coils in adjacent rows also being like-handed.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim 25 words
The spring assembly as defined in claim 7 wherein the coils within each row are like-handed and the coils in adjacent rows are also like-handed.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim 29 words
The spring assembly of claim 7 in which said radius of said overlapped sections of said Z-shaped interconnecting segments is approximately eight times the radius of said helical wire.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim 195 words
A spring assembly comprising a plurality of rows of coils, each of said rows being formed from a single continuous piece of wire and each of said rows containing a plurality of coils interconnected by Z-shaped interconnecting segments, alternate ones of said Z-shaped interconnecting segments being disposed in the planes of the upper and lower surfaces of said spring assembly, the axes of said coils being disposed perpendicular to the upper and lower surfaces of said spring assembly, sections of each of said Z-shaped interconnecting segments of each row being overlapped relative to Z-shaped interconnecting segments of an adjacent row, helical spring means extending parallel to said rows for the length of said rows, said helical spring means being wound through said overlapped sections of said Z-shaped interconnecting segments so as to secure said rows of coils in an assembled relation, and said overlapped sections of said Z-shaped interconnecting segments being radiused, the radii of said overlapping sections being substantially greater than the radius of said helical wire so that said helical wire permits relative pivotal movement between said overlapped sections of said Z-shaped interconnecting segments of said rows but precludes all other relative movement.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim 195 words
A spring assembly comprising a plurality of rows of coils, each of said rows being formed from a single continuous piece of wire and each of said rows containing a plurality of coils interconnected by Z-shaped interconnecting segments, alternate ones of said Z-shaped interconnecting segments being disposed in the planes of the upper and lower surfaces of said spring assembly, the axes of said coils being disposed perpendicular to the upper and lower surfaces of said spring assembly, sections of each of said Z-shaped interconnecting segments of each row being overlapped relative to Z-shaped interconnecting segments of an adjacent row, helical spring means extending parallel to said rows for the length of said rows, said helical spring means being wound through said overlapped sections of said Z-shaped interconnecting segments so as to secure said rows of coils in an assembled relation, and said overlapped sections of said Z-shaped interconnecting segments being radiused, the radii of said overlapping sections being substantially greater than the radius of said helical wire so that said helical wire permits relative pivotal movement between said overlapped sections of said Z-shaped interconnecting segments of said rows but precludes all other relative movement.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim 25 words
The spring assembly as defined in claim 11 wherein the coils within each row are like-handed and the coils in adjacent rows are also like-handed.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim 29 words
The spring assembly of claim 11 in which said radius of said overlapped sections of said Z-shaped interconnecting segments is approximately eight times the radius of said helical wire.

References Cited (Backward Citations)

US3462774A Cited
US3657749A Cited
US3716874A Cited

USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Annuity Stage Window Opens Payment Deadline Surcharge Period Until Estimated Fee Status
3.5 Years (Year 4) 1978-10-13 1979-04-14 1979-10-14 $2000.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8) 1982-10-13 1983-04-14 1983-10-14 $3760.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12) 1986-10-13 1987-04-14 1987-10-14 $7700.00 Window Closed / Lapsed

Assigned Categories & Tags

No categories assigned to this patent yet.

Assign Category Tag