FOAM SPRING FOR PILLOWS, CUSHIONS, MATTRESSES OR THE LIKE AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING SUCH A FOAM SPRING

Background Of The Invention

1. Field of the Invention

[0001] The present invention concerns a foam spring in particular a foam spring with a tubular resilient body made of foam with holes extending inwards from the outside and which can be applied in the core of pillows, mattresses, armchair cushions or the like. [0002] The invention also concerns a method of manufacturing such a foam spring.

2. Discussion of the Related Art

[0003] Such foam springs are known for example from U.S. Published Patent Application

No. 2005172468 and European Patent Document No. 0.872.198, disclosing a foam spring made out of a foam layer strip of for example latex or polyurethane foam, provided with slits, whereby the strip is bent and two opposite ends of the strip are glued together to form a hollow tubular body with diamond shaped holes formed by stretching the slits in a lateral direction due to the bending of the strip.

[0004] Although known foam springs are very much valued by the users of the pillows, mattresses or the like, they have a disadvantage that they are easily damaged, for example during handling when assembling the pillows, mattresses or the like, due to high stretching forces applied to the springs.

[0005] Therefore, handling the springs needs to be done with some caution, which involves special care, often resulting in a slower production process and higher production costs.

[0006] Another drawback of the known springs is that when they are compressed in the axial direction, they tend to bulge out in a lateral direction, hence influencing the behaviour of the adjoining springs. Therefore the elastic behaviour of individual springs in a pillow, mattress or the like is sometimes difficult to predict so that accommodating a pillow, mattress or the like to a user's need or body shape is not an easy task.

[0007] Still another drawback is that in order to realize a foam spring with a relative high stiffness, a foam with a relatively high density has to be used, which is more expensive and which increases the weight of the pillow, mattress or the like.

Summary Of The Invention

[0008] It is an object of the present invention to provide a foam spring with improved properties for use in pillows, cushions, mattresses or the like.

[0009] To this end, the invention concerns a foam spring having a tubular resilient body made of foam with holes extending inwardly from an outside surface to an inside surface, wherein the tubular body comprises at least one tubular foam layer and at least one reinforcing layer applied to said foam layer over at least a part of the axial length of the spring.

[0010] Due to the reinforcing layer, a spring according to the invention is better resistant against damage due to rough handling during manufacturing and assembling of the pillow, mattress or the like. Therefore less care has to be taken not to damage the springs during handling, which is advantageous with respect to the production rate and production cost.

[0011] Another advantage of such a spring according to the invention is that it has less tendency to bulge out when compressed, so that its elastic property is less influenced by adjoining compressed springs, and that therefore the resilient behaviour of each individual spring can be better predicted when used in a pillow, mattress or the like.

[0012] Due to this predictable behaviour of the springs, it is easier to tailor a pillow, mattress or the like to a user's particular preferences or to his body shape and weight in order to give the user a great feeling of comfort.

[0013] These foam springs according to the invention can of course be combined with other types of springs in order to create different comfort zones with different softness in a pillow, mattress or the like.

[0014] The resilient behaviour of a spring according to the invention can easily be adapted by using a reinforcing layer with a different stretch resistance.

[0015] According to a preferred embodiment, the reinforcing layer can be made of a fabric or of a non-woven sheet material like for example a non-woven manufactured on a basis of polypropylene, which is a cheap material and readily available on the market. [0016] Preferably the reinforcing layer is applied against the outside surface of the foam layer, but good results can also be obtained by applying the reinforcing layer against the inside surface of the foam layer or as an intermediate layer between two foam layers. [0017] The invention also relates to a method for manufacturing a foam spring with a tubular, resilient body for use in pillows, mattresses or the like, which method comprises providing interrupted slits along lines extending in the longitudinal direction of a multi-layer band with at least one foam layer and at least one reinforcing layer; cutting a transverse strip out of this multi-layer; bending two opposite ends of the strip towards each other; and fixing the two opposite ends into a tubular shape to form the tubular resilient body.

Brief Description Of The Drawings

[0018] In order to better explain the characteristics of the invention, the following preferred embodiment of a foam spring and of a method according to the invention for manufacturing such a foam spring is described as an example only without being limitative in any way, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0019] Figure 1 represents a schematic perspective view of a foam spring according to the invention;

[0020] Figure 2 is a cross-section according to line IHI in Figure 1;

[0021] Figure 3 represents a reinforced foam layer with slits used for manufacturing a foam spring according to the invention;

[0022] Figure 4 is a side view according to arrow F4 in Figure 1, but with the foam spring in a compressed situation;

[0023] Figures 5 and 6 represent similar views as the Figures 2 and 3 but for another embodiment of a foam spring according to the invention; and

[0024] Figures 7 and 8, 9 and 10 respectively, represent similar views as the Figures 2 and 3 but respectively for two other embodiments of a foam spring according to the invention.

Description Of The Preferred Embodiment

[0025] The spring represented in Figures 1 and 2 is a foam spring 1 for use in pillows, cushions, mattresses or the like, and is comprised of a tubular resilient body 2 with holes 3 extending inwardly from the outside surface 4 to the inside surface 5 of the spring 1.

[0026] The tubular body 2 comprises a foam layer 6 and a reinforcing layer 7 applied to said foam layer 6, for example by gluing.

[0027] In case of the embodiment of Figures 1 and 2, the reinforced layer is applied over the complete outside surface 5, in particular over the total axial length L of the spring 1.

[0028] The reinforcing layer has an enhanced stretch resistance and is for that matter preferably made of a fabric or of a non-woven sheet material, for example made of polypropylene.

[0029] The foam spring 1 is made out of a multi-layer strip 3 as represented in Figure 3 with a foam layer 10 and at least one reinforcing layer 11 applied to one side of the foam layer 10 and a series of slits 12 extending in a direction X-X' and extending throughout the foam layer 10 and reinforcing layer 11.

[0030] The slits 12 in the multi-layer strip 9 are cut along a plurality of interrupted parallel lines 13 at a distance from each other.

[0031] The slits 12 are advantageously positioned according to a staggered pattern, whereby the slits 12 along adjacent lines 13 are offset in their longitudinal direction X-X' , for example over a distance equal to half the longitudinal length of the slits 12.

[0032] The strip 9 is provided with two opposite ends 14 and 15 extending in the direction X-X' of the slits 12, which opposite ends 14 and 15 are bent towards each other, as represented with the dotted arrows P in Figure 3, and are fixed together, by gluing or other technique, to form said hollow tubular body 2 of the spring 1 with holes 3 that are diamond

like shaped by stretching the slits 12 in a transversal direction due to the bending of the strip 9.

[0033] An advantage of a multi-layer foam spring 1 as represented in Figures 1 and 2 is that when the spring is compressed in the axial direction X-X' as represented by arrow Z in Figure 4, the foam spring 1 does not have the tendency to bulk out in a radial or lateral direction and that hence the diameter of the tubular spring is essentially preserved. [0034] Figure 5 represents another embodiment of a foam spring 1 according to the invention, wherein the reinforcing layer 7 is applied as an intermediate layer between two foam layers 6A and 6B. [0035] This foam spring 1 is in this case made out of a slitted strip 9 with two foam layers 1OA and 1OB and an intermediate reinforcing layer 11 of which the ends 14 and 15 are glued together to form the tubular spring of Figure 5.

[0036] Figure 7 represents still another embodiment of a foam spring 1 according to the invention, wherein this time the reinforced layer 7 is applied at the inside surface 5 of the foam layer 6, whilst Figure 8 represents the strip 9 out of which the spring 1 of Figure 7 can be formed.

[0037] Figure 9 demonstrates that the reinforcing layer 7 is not necessarily made out of a sheet material, but that this reinforcing layer 7 can also be realized by a second foam layer with an enhanced stretch resistance with regard to the first foam layer 6, for example by the use of a foam with a higher density or with incorporated reinforcing fibers or the like. [0038] Figure 10 represents the strip 9 that forms the basis for making the foam spring 1 of Figure 9.

[0039] Although according to a preferred embodiment of the invention the reinforcing layer 7 extends over the total axial length L of the spring 1, it is not excluded that the reinforcing layer 7 only extends over a part of said axial length L.

[0040] The invention is not necessarily limited to cylindrical springs, but can also be applied to other shapes of springs.

[0041] The present invention is by no means limited to the above-described embodiments given as an example and represented in the accompanying drawings; on the contrary, such a foam spring and method for manufacturing such a spring can vary while still remaining within the scope of the invention.

[0042] In view of the aforesaid written description of the present invention, it will be readily understood by those persons skilled in the art that the present invention is susceptible of broad utility and application. Many embodiments and adaptations of the present invention other than those herein described, as well as many variations, modifications, and equivalent arrangements, will be apparent from or reasonably suggested by the present invention and the foregoing description thereof, without departing from the substance or scope of the present invention. Accordingly, while the present invention has been described herein in detail in relation to preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that this disclosure is only illustrative and exemplary of the present invention and is made merely for purposes of providing a full and enabling disclosure of the invention. The foregoing disclosure is not intended nor is to be construed to limit the present invention or otherwise to exclude any such other embodiments, adaptations, variations, modifications and equivalent arrangements, the present invention being limited only by the claims appended hereto and the equivalents thereof.