US 4,377,279 AGranted

Steel wire foundation

AssigneeSteadley Company

InventorsMartin Schulz, Jr., James E. Bane

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Abstract

A foundation unit which, when assembled, can be collapsed for compact storage and shipping and later can be elevated to a fully expanded state. The foundation unit includes a rectangular, grid wire top bearing structure, a rigid bottom substructure such as a wooden frame, and a series of spaced, parallel rows of substantially flat support members extending between the top bearing structure and the bottom substructure. The support members are hingedly secured to the top bearing structure and bottom substructure to permit reduction of the foundation unit to the collapsed state with the rows of support members lying essentially prone. In the elevated state, the foundation unit includes stabilizers which are oppositely reactive and which prevent relative longitudinal translation between the top and bottom of the foundation unit. Depending on the firmness characteristics required of the foundation unit, the flat support members can assume one of a number of different configurations, offering total stiffness or varying degrees of recoilable compression of the foundation unit.

Claims22

Dependent claims

In a foundation unit for support of human beings, said foundation unit being of determined depth and having a flat top bearing structure which is generally rectangular in shape and which has opposite longitudinal end edges and opposite lateral side edges, said foundation unit further having a bottom substructure, and support means intermediate the top bearing structure and bottom substructure for maintaining the determined depth, the improvement comprising a collapsible foundation unit in which

a. said support means comprises a plurality of spaced, parallel rows of support members, each row of support members extending substantially between the opposite lateral side edges of the top bearing structure, and each row of support members lying essentially in a single plane, with a plurality of said rows of support members being located intermediate said end edges,
b. means hingidly securing said rows of support members to said top bearing structure and said bottom substructure to permit collapse of the foundation unit about said rows of support members, and
c. stabilizing means attached to the foundation unit and positionable in one orientation for maintaining the foundation unit in an expanded state and positionable in a second orientation to permit collapse of the foundation unit, said stabilizing means comprising a plurality of elongated struts extending at an incline between said top bearing member and said bottom substructure when the foundation unit is in the expanded state, at least one of said struts being poised in a direction opposite from at least one other of said struts to prevent collapse of the foundation unit, said struts being rigid in their longitudinal direction and being situated to extend between a said intermediate row of support members and an adjacent row of support members proximate to at least one end edge of said foundation unit.

A foundation unit for support of human beings comprising:

a. a rectangular top bearing structure having opposite longitudinal end edges and opposite lateral side edges,
b. a rigid bottom substructure having approximately the same rectangular dimension as the top bearing structure,
c. a plurality of spaced, parallel rows of substantially flat support members extending between the top bearing structure and the bottom structure, with a plurality of said rows of support members being located intermediate said end edges,
d. means hingedly securing said rows of support members to said top bearing structure and bottom substructure, and
e. stabilizing means comprising a plurality of elongated struts positionable in two orientations, one orientation extending at an incline between said top bearing structure and said bottom substructure for maintaining the foundation unit in an expanded state with the rows of support members generally upright, at least one of said struts being poised in a direction opposite from at least one other of said struts to prevent collapse of the foundation unit, and another orientation for permitting reduction of the foundation unit to a collapsed state with the rows of support members essentially prone, said struts being rigid in their longitudinal direction and being situation to extend between a said intermediate row of support members and an adjacent row of support members proximate to at least one end edge of said foundation unit.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.