Frame and spring assembly for furniture and the like

Abstract

A frame and spring assembly for use in furniture such as chairs, sofas, etc. and bedding articles such as box springs wherein the springs are retained on the frame in a manner to enable fabrication of the frame from rigid materials such as metal or plastic. The frame rails and spring retention clips are formed so that the clips readily mount on and slide along the rails thereby enabling use of any desired number of springs on the frame without requiring any welding or other securing of the clips to the rails.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Wood has been the most commonly used material for furniture and bedding frames in the past. This has been due to the ready availability of good quality wood, the low cost of wood, and the ease of nailing or stapling spring mounting and retention devices onto wood rails. However, the quality of wood available for this purpose has been declining and the cost of wood has increased to the point where wood no longer offers the advantages that it previously offered. It is an object of the present invention, therefore, to provide an improved frame and spring assembly constructed so that the components thereof can be fabricated from metal, plastic or the like.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The frame and spring assembly of this invention consists of a plurality of frame rails that provide the conventional support for the spring assembly with each frame rail being shaped so that its outer side is indented to form a generally downwardly facing surface adjacent to top of the rail. A spring supporting clip, slideably supported on the rail, has a top portion that is hooked over the top of the rail and engaged with the downwardly facing surface. This engagement prevents the clip from being forced off the rail by spring pressure.

Each clip also has a downwardly and inwardly inclined spring support leg which is located on the inner side of the rail. A spring retainer means is formed on the clip at the upper end of the leg so that a spring can be assembled with the clip by nesting a spring torsion bar in the retainer means and engaging an end portion of the spring with the top side of the inclined leg. The clip then functions much like the clips that are now in common use in connection with wooden frame rails wherein it is easy to staple the clip to the frame rail. In this invention, a plurality of clips can be mounted on a frame rail and adjusted for position lengthwise of the rail during assembly of the springs with the rail. In one form of the invention the rail is provided with a downwardly and inwardly inclined inner side to support the clip legs. In another form of the invention each clip leg has an inturned extension which engages the rail to maintain the clip in desired position. Cooperating projections and indentations on the clip and the rail hold the clip in an adjusted position.

In summary, therefore, the frame and spring assembly of this invention is particularly constructed to enable ease of assembly of the springs on the frame and fabrication of the frame rails from rigid materials such as plastic and metal.

Further objects, features and advantages of this invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a foreshortened side elevational view of the frame and spring assembly of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary plan view of a portion of the assembly shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view showing a spring retention clip mounted on one form of a frame rail in the assembly of this invention so as to support a spring on the rail;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view, like FIG. 3, showing another form of spring retention clip and frame rail in the assembly of this invention; and

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary detail sectional view of the frame rail and retention clip shown in FIG. 4.

With reference to the drawing, the frame and spring assembly of this invention, indicated generally at 10, is shown in FIG. 1 as including a generally rectangular metal frame 12 on which a plurality of springs 14 are mounted. The springs 14 are of the conventional "formed wire" type (FIG. 2) and are retained on the frame 12 by retention clips 16 (FIG. 3) or 16a (FIG. 4).

The frame 12 consists of side rails 18 and end rails 20 connected together in any suitable manner, the end rails 20 constituting the supports for the springs 14. As shown in FIG. 3 an end rail 20 is formed from a single sheet of rigid material, preferably metal, but which could be a plastic or similar material, bent to form the rail so that it has a top 22, an outer side 24 and an inner side 26. The rear side 24 has an indentation 27 therein that forms a generally downwardly facing surface 28 adjacent to top 22. The inner side 26 is inclined downwardly and forwardly for a purpose to appear presently.

Each retention clip 16 has a hook shaped portion 29 that is hooked over the top 22 of the rail 20 and engaged with the surface 28. The clip 16 also has a downwardly and inwardly inclined leg 30 that lays flat against the rail inner side 26 and is supported thereon. At the juncture of the clip top 29 and the leg 30, the clip 16 is formed with an inwardly projecting arcuate section 34 which is spaced inwardly from the rail side 26 a distance sufficient to allow an end torsion bar 36 on a spring 14 to be inserted therebetween.

In the assembly of a clip 16 with frame rail 20 so as to mount a spring 14 on the rail 20, the clip 16, with the torsion bar 36 nested in the arcuate section 34 is placed on the rail 20 so that the hook portion 29 of the clip is hooked over the top 22 of the rail 20 as shown in FIG. 3. The clip 16 can then be moved longitudinally of the rail 20 to a desired adjusted position in which the spring 14 is located in a pre-established position on the frame 12. As shown in FIG. 3, the spring 14 has an inclined end portion 38 that engages the top side of the leg 30. When the spring 14 is loaded, during normal use of the furniture or the like in which the assembly 10 is installed, the spring end portion 34 exerts downward pressure on the retention clip leg 30 so as to maintain the clip in a desired location on the rail 20. Similarly, when the spring 14 is not under load, it is compressed enough between the end rails 20 to provide adequate downward force at the end portion 38 on the leg 30 to hold the clip 16 in position.

Should it be necessary to replace a spring 14, the retention clips 16 therefor can readily be disassembled from the end rails 20 to provide for easy replacement of a spring 14. This replacement feature is due principally to the fact in the assembly 10 the clips 16 are slideable on the rails 20 and are not permanently secured thereto by welding, stapling or the like.

A modified rail and clip arrangement for the assembly 10 is shown in FIG. 4. In the modified arrangement, the spring 14 is identical to the spring in the assembly 10 but the end rails 20a and the clips 16a are different. The end rail 20a is formed much like the end rail 20, but to a different shape providing for symmetry of the rail 20a with respect to a vertical plane. The rail 20a is formed on its outer side with a recess 40 that provides a generally downwardly facing surface 42 disposed adjacent the top 44 of the rail. The inner side 46 of the rail 20a is shaped much like the other side. The retention clip 16a has a hook shaped top portion 48 which hooks over the top 44 of the rail 20a and engages the surface 42 so that the clip 16a will not move on the rail 20a in response to inwardly and downwardly directed force applied to the clip 16a.

The clip 16a has a downwardly and inwardly inclined leg 50 which terminates at its lower end in an outwardly directed extension 52 formed at its terminal end with evenly spaced projections 54 (FIG. 5). The inner side 46 of the rail 20a has similarly spaced indentations 56 that cooperate with the projections 54 to prevent the clip 16a from being freely slideable on the rail 20a when there is spring pressure on the clip 16a tending to force the projections 54 into the indentations 56.

As shown in FIG. 4, a central portion of the leg 50 is cut and bent upwardly and rearwardly so as to form a generally hook shape retainer section 58 on the clip 16a at the juncture of the clip top 48 and the leg 50. This enables the spring 14 to be assembled with the clip 16a after the clip is mounted on the rail 20a by nesting the torsion bar 36 in the hook shape portion 58 and laying the spring end portion 38 on the top side of the clip leg 50. Spring pressure on the clip 16a then retains the clip in an adjusted position on the rail 20a.

From the above description it is seen that this invention provides a spring and frame assembly 10 in which clips 16 and 16a cooperate with cooperatively shaped end rails 20 and 20a, respectively, so as to firmly mount the springs 14 in adjustable positions on the rails 20 and 20a. This is accomplished without requiring any structure for securing the clips 16 and 16a to the rails 20 and 20a, respectively, and with the clips 16 and 16a being slideable longitudinally of the rails. This enables a variable number of springs 14 to be used on similar frames 12 and also enables easy replacement of springs 14. The cooperating projections 54 and indentations 56 on relatively movable and normally engaged parts of the clip and rail to prevent accidental relative movement can also be incorporated in other parts of the clips 10 and 10a such as between the clip top wall and the rail top.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. In a frame and spring assembly, a frame rail having a top, an inner side and an outer side, said outer side being indented so as to form a generally downwardly facing surface thereon, a spring supporting clip slideably supported on said rail, said clip having a top portion hooked over the top of said rail and engaged with said surface and having a downwardly and inwardly inclined spring support leg located on the inner side of said rail, said clip having spring retainer means formed thereon at the upper end of said leg for retaining a spring in a supported position on said leg, said clip being engaged with said rail inner side at a position below said spring retainer means so that downward forces exerted on said leg by a spring supported on said clip will tend to hold said clip in a pre-established position on said rail, and a spring member having a torsion bar nested in said spring retainer means and an end portion engaged with the top side of said leg.

2. A frame and spring assembly according to claim 1 wherein said inner side of said frame rail is inclined downwardly and inwardly in a substantially parallel relation to said clip leg and is disposed in supporting engagement with said leg.

3. A frame and spring assembly according to claim 1 further including an extension on the lower end of said leg extended toward and engaged with the inner side of said rail.

4. A frame and spring assembly according to claim 1 wherein said spring retainer means comprises an upwardly extending hook member formed from a portion of said leg.

5. A frame and spring assembly according to claim 1 wherein said spring retainer means comprises an arcuate portion formed in said clip at the juncture of said top and said leg and spaced from said rail so that said torsion bar is between said rail and said clip.

6. A frame and spring assembly according to claim 3 further including interengaging projection and recess means on said leg extension and said rail inner side impeding free sliding movement of said clip on said rail.