Pocketed bedding or seating product having pockets of differing heights

#This invention relates generally to spring assemblies for mattresses, cushions and other bedding or seating products and, more particularly, to a pocketed coil spring assembly and associated method of manufacturing such an assembly.

#A well known type of bedding or seating product comprises a spring assembly which includes a number of discrete coil springs, each of which is enclosed in a fabric pocket in a length of folded fabric material. Longitudinal axes of the coil springs are generally parallel with one another so that the top and bottom end turns of the coil springs define top and bottom faces of the spring assembly. A row of such pocketed springs is known in the industry as a string of pocketed springs. A bedding or seating product can be fabricated from such strings of pocketed springs by binding or adhering the individual rows or strings of pocketed springs together to form a spring assembly which may be padded and encased in an upholstered covering. U.S. Pat. No. 6,143,122, which is fully incorporated herein, discloses one such method of adhesively bonding strings of pocketed springs together to form a spring assembly.

#This type of spring assembly is commonly referred to as a pocketed spring unit due to the fact that each spring is contained within an individual pocket of fabric material. The construction of strings of pocketed coil springs in each pocket is well known in the art and, for example, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,439,977 which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. The system disclosed in that patent includes a spring coiler which forms a coil spring which is subsequently compressed and inserted between the plies of folded pocketing fabric material. Other systems for manufacturing pocketed coil spring assemblies are disclosed in PCT Patent Application No. WO 94/18116 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,101,697, each of which are expressly incorporated herein by reference.

#These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will be more readily apparent from the following drawings.

#FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a bedding product made in accordance with the invention of this application comprising a pocketed spring assembly having a plurality of longitudinally extending strings of springs surrounded by generally rectangular border wires;

#FIG. 1A is a perspective view of a bedding product made in accordance with the present invention, the strings of springs of the pocketed spring assembly extending transversely;

#Referring to the drawings, and particularly to FIG. 1, there is illustrated a bedding or seating product in the form of a mattress 10. Although a mattress 10 is illustrated, the present invention may be used to construct any bedding or seating product. The mattress 10 comprises a pocketed spring assembly 12 having a generally planar top surface 14 in a top plane P1 and a parallel generally planar bottom surface 16 in a bottom plane P2. Covering pads 18 (only one being shown) may be located on the top and bottom surfaces 14, 16 of the pocketed spring assembly 12. An upholstered covering 20 encases the pocketed spring assembly 12 and the covering pads 18.

#The mattress 10 has a height H defined as the distance between the top and bottom surfaces 14, 16 of the spring assembly 12. Similarly, the mattress 10 has a transverse dimension or width W defined between opposed side surfaces 22 and a longitudinal dimension or length L defined as the distance between the opposed end surfaces 24 of the mattress 10. The longitudinal dimension is illustrated as being larger than the transverse dimension of the mattress 10 although it is within the contemplation of the present invention that the longitudinal and transverse dimensions be identical, such as in a square product.

#If desired, at least one border wire may be secured to the pocketed spring assembly 12 with hog rings or any other conventional fastener 13. FIG. 1 illustrates an upper border wire 26 and a lower border wire 28, both of which are generally rectangular, secured to the pocketed spring assembly 12. However, only one border wire may be used, if desired or none at all, as shown in FIG. 1A.