US2318492A - Air mattress - Google Patents

Description

May 4, 1943. J. H JQHNsoN AIR MATTRESS Filed Jan. 16, i941 2 Sheets-Sheet l AIR MATTRESS Filed Jan. 16, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 z J'nVnor:

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Patented May 4, 1943 yUNITEDSTATES VPailazri'r OFFICE, n 2,318,492 1 ,v

.AIR MATTRESS" John H.- Johnson, Toronto, "OntarorCan'ada Application January 16, 1941,seria1i\fo. 374,679

v U01-aims. (CLS-343) This invention relates to air mattresses 'or cushions in which a pair of rubber sheets secured together around the edges are connected at intermediate points by an intervening elastic 'member which forms tufts on either side to prevent undue expansion or bulging and the principal objects of the present invention are to obviate the rupturing of the outside rubber vsheets through undue stretching adjacent to the tuftedspots A further object is to devise a structurewhich .spots which form the tufts.

will be very flexible and therefore 'much softer under the applied weight of persons lying lor sitting thereon. e

A still further object is to eie'cteconomy in the quantity of rubber used inthe' structure'.

The principal feature of the invention consists :ln securing the outer sheets by means of a plurality of intermediate strips of material connected alternately to the top and bottom sheets, said strips being of elastic material andthe spot c ontacts of the intermediate strips adhere` in areas extending transversely thereof.

A further important feature consists in the novel construction and arrangement of a pocket at one end of the mattress enclsinga separate removable cushion. K

In the accompanying drawings Figurevl is a perspective view of a mattress constructed in accordance with this invention, a portion thereof being broken away to disclose, theflremovablepillow structure at one end. e

Figure 2 is an exaggerated longitudinal secf tional view of the mattress structure beforebeing inflated illustrating the manner of assembly of the outer envelope and the -intermediate means connecting the outer rubber sheets.

Figure 3 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view of a portionof the mattress shown-inflated.

Figure 4 is a plan View ofa portion of the sheet of paper to permit vthe'adhesioln of .separated spots of the central sheet with the inner surface `of both the topan'd bottom sheets-:ofthe vstructure. o

Mattresses constructed in thefabove manner the outerenvelopev sheet around the adhesion Further, the mat tres's is not as flexible as'maybe desired;l

The present invention overcomes these various objectionable features.'

' According to the presentV invention rubber sheets I and 2 -ofthe mattress envelope are connected'by means of a' plurality of vnarrow rubber strips'which extend longitudinally from endltoendA of themattre'ss and are connected tothe inner sides of the sheets'l and2 alternately'so 'that the jfull width of the-strips 3 is secured' by vulcanization to the inner side of the outer'sheets 'in lsubstantially rectangular areas which areindicated by thetuft areasl 4 and 5 respectively'.

Thelongitudinal strips 3 are thus alternately connected to the topand bottom sheets of the mattressr envelope and form zig-zag connecting members which, whenl vthe mattress Vis vinf-lated, limitsthe thickness or depth of the mattress *andr as theV connecting strips are( preferably of rubber 'they are sufiiciently elastic toallow o'f'a desirable amount of expansion and as the strips are arf `ranged parallel to each other and the tuft areas ofthe successive lstrips are staggered, inrelation to each othera very stable and uniformy mattress is produced which is Ahowever extremely flexible.

Y The outer sheets I and 2.are of course secured together around. the edges in the form of' theflange 6 andconsequently-the tendencyfor side displacement of thetop and bottom ,sheets is obviated.

j In constructing a mattress such asdescribecithe bottom sheet 2 is laid upon aflat surface andA a e sheet of paper 'l is laid thereover. This sheet is of course of lesser width and length than the ber strips will contact with the areas of thesheet 2 exposed by the perforatins in the paper sheet.

Asecond paper sheet 9 is then laid over they' f lower rubber sheets.

rubber strips and this second sheet is formed with perforations similar to theperforations 8 in thesheet 1 but the perforations I0 are offset and are placed midway between theperforations l in the lower sheet and they are arranged in longitudinal alignment with thelower rows.

The top rubber sheet I is then laid over the second paper sheet and its under surface comes into contact with `the exposed narrow rectangular areas outlined by the perforations I0 in the upper papershet. The upper paper sheet is of course smaller than the outer rubber sheets and the edge surfaces of the two sheets engage in adhesive contact. I

The sheets are thus placed together, and, illustrated in Figure 2, are then placed under pressure and vulcanized so that the narrow rectangular areas exposed by the perforations in the two paper sheets permit the adhesion of the longitudinal strips alternately tothe upper and The outer edges of the sheets yI and 2 are also vulcanized together to .form the outer seam. v A'suitable valve II is vulcanized in position at one ofthe corners of the mattress so that it can be lreadily inflated. l

At one end of the mattress it is desirable to provide a pocket to form a pillow structure not restricted by the tufting structure previously described. This is accomplished by laying an unperforated sheet of paper between the upper and lower rubber sheets I and 2 and it is preferred to have this pocket structure open at the end so `that the paper sheet is extended out past the rubber sheets. 'Ihis pocket. may'v be closed by I means of one of the standard types of slide fasteners I2 or otherwise as may be desired and when thusprovided with an opening and closing means'a suitable pillow or cushion I3 separate therefrom may be inserted into the pocket I4. This pillow may be a pneumatic pillow if desired, or, it may be desirable to simply seal this pillow area around the outer edges and provide it with a valve so that it may be inflated separately from ,the main body, there being a vulcanized strip I5 arranged at the end of the mattress 'between it and the pillow portion.

It will be understood that, with the longitudinal strips'of rubber attached alternately to the upper and lower `sheets of the mattressby transverseA contact .areas thel full width of the strip, the stretching effect caused by the 'inflation of the mattress and later by the application of an external weight thereto, will apply the stretching effect across the full width of the longitudinal 'strips and the rectangular areas will distribute the stress to the `outside sheets uniformly for the full width of each strip.

It will :also be understood that there will `be a considerable saving `effected in the cost of the structure in that the total area of the rubber strips will be much less than the total area of `.a

`fullinterrnediate sheet of rubber whichhas heretofore been used.

as isV Athe central supporting member and the outer sheets.

A structure such as described provides a very highly desirable article which is extremely comfortable in use and will have an exceptionally long life.

Mattresses such as herein described are preferably made with an outer facing of textile fabric bearing a fancy pattern and in the manufacture it is desirable that the fabric of the underside be protected against the detrimental effects of steam in the vulcanizing process and it is also desirable to seal the several layers of the structure against the ingress of steam and moisture. To accomplish the above it is found desirable to cut the upper a rubber sheet I larger than the bottom sheet so that a margin projects all round and `this overlying top sheet is sealed down against the plateon which the mattress is fabricated. The under rubber surface of the top sheet maybe pressed in a secure seal against the plate on which it is vulcanized or it may, if found desirable, be sealed down with a suitable cement.

The sealing of the top sheet down to the plate prevents steam and moisture getting in between the several surfaces and a secure vulcanization of the various members is effected. After vulcanizing, the extra width of the edge flange is trimmed off in a suitable manner.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. An inflatable air mattress of the type formed of a pair of rubber sheets sealed together at the edges having the top and bottom sheets connected on the inner side of the mattress by a plurality of parallel spaced flexible rubber strips, each of which is connected alternately to the inner surface of the bottom sheet and the top sheet, characterized in thatthe areas of connection of the said strips to the inner surfaces of the top and bottom sheets are alternately arranged in theadjacent strips so that the sloping plane of the portion of the strip connecting the bottom and top sheets in alternate strips are arranged to intersect the plane of the sloping portion of the intermediate strip to effect a balancing of the endwise stress on each adjacent strip, the zones of connection between the said strips and the upper and lower sheets in each alternate strip being disposed in staggered relation to the zones of connection between the adjacent strip and the upper and lower sheets.

2. An air vmattress as claimed inclaim 1 in which the vcontacting areas of the internally zigtend the full width of the strips.

JOHN H. JOHNSON.

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