US3514797A - Mattress handle - Google Patents

Description

June 2, 1970 M. ZYSMAN 3,514,797

MATTRESS HANDLE Filed March 21, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 W II (1 11%77" i 17 16 212022 1 J 15 FIG- 3 H INVEN'I'UR. M. ZYSMAN Agent M. ZYSMAN MATTRESS HANDLE June 2, 1970 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 21, 1968 FIG.9

FIG. 11

I N VIZN '1 ()R. M. ZYSMAN B Y Z 2 Agent United States Patent MATTRESS HANDLE Milton Zysman, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, assignor, by

mesne assignments, to Convex Limited, Nassau Bahamas, a Bahamian company Filed Mar. 21, 1968, Ser. No. 714,965 Int. Cl. A47c 23/00; A47b 95/02 US. Cl. -345 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A decorative mattress handle comprising an ornamental strip mounted between the terminals of an elongated plastic handle to enhance the appearance thereof.

This invention relates to an improved mattress handle.

In the past mattress handles were formed of fabric or fabric-covered elements, such as cord, which blended with the ticking on the mattress walls to which they were atached. Currently, however, mattress manufacturers seem to favour plastic handles which appear to be preferred by the industry for reasons of economy, ease of attachment to mattresses, strength, and so forth. On the other hand, mattresses equipped with plastic handles have encountered strong sales resistance on the part of the public due, it is thought, to the fact that the plastic handles fail to blend decoratively with the colouring and ornamentation of the mattress wall material, but present instead a stark appearance as compared with the fabric handles of the prior art.

A first object of the invention is, therefore, to provide a mattress handle formed of plastic material and possessing the physical properties of strength, lightness of weight, economy, ease of attachment, and so forth of conventional plastic handles whilst still possessing desirable decorative properties.

An equally important object of the invention is to provide a mattress handle formed of a plastics material which will lend itself to ornamentation by a fabric or like decorative element so that it bears a close resemblance to said prior fabric handles.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a handle as aforesaid which is specifically designed to receive a decorative element for camouflaging the handle and disguising the plastic appearance thereof.

The plastic handle particularly contemplated by the invention is of the type which comprises two spaced-apart terminals securable on a mattress wall and joined together by an elongated grip; the decorative element aforesaid being applied to the grip between said terminals. Preferably said decorative element consists wholly of fabric or it may consist of a fabric or equivalent material mounted on a more or less stiff core.

Obviously a decorative element which is formed of a fabric, or which is fabric covered, may well raise new problems for solution. For example, a convenient method of applying the fabric to a stiffening element would be by the use of braiding around said element. However, this material ravels very readily at its ends which necessitates the employment of special counter-measures to prevent .such unraveling and this constitutes a further objective of the invention.

More specifically stated, said further objective of the invention is to provide a mattress handle as aforesaid with sockets capable of receiving and retaining the ends of a decorative element as aforesaid to preserve those ends against deterioration.

As a collateral object, the invention further contemplates the provision of a handle as aforesaid in which not 3,514,797 Patented June 2, 1970 only the decorative element but also the grip itself is installed and secured within said sockets.

The invention also seeks to provide an acceptable method of improving the appearance of plastics handles generally.

To meet the above and other unspecified objects, the invention provides a mattress handle comprising a pair of terminals securable in spaced-apart relation on a mattress, an elongated grip joining said terminals and a socket adjacent the junction of each one of said terminals and the grip for accommodating the ends of a decorative element on the grip. In the preferred form of the invention, the grip is formed integrally with the terminals. In an alternative form, however, the grip may be formed separate from the terminals, the ends of both the grip and the decorative element being securable within a corresponding said socket.

Further and other objects of the invention more or less broad than the foregoing will be apparent from or specifically stated in the hereinafter following description of the elements, parts and principles constituting the invention of which preferred embodiments are herein described and illustrated in the annexed drawings by way of example only wherein like parts of the invention are designated by like reference numerals throughout the drawings and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a top perspective view of a mattress handle wherein the grip portion thereof is formed integrally with each of the two end terminals;

FIG. 2 is an underneath perspective view of one end of the handle shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view on the line IIIIII of FIG. 1 showing a part of the mattress wall to which the handle is attached and also the means for securing the handle thereto;

FIG. 4 is a transverse cross-sectional view on the line IV-IV of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a top perspective view of an alternative form of mattress handle wherein the grip portion is formed integrally at each of its ends with a terminal;

FIG. 6 is an underneath perspective view of one end of the handle shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view on the line VII-VII of FIG. 6 showing a part of the mattress wall to which the handle is attached and also the means for attaching one of the terminals thereto;

FIG. 8 is a transverse cross-sectional view on the line VIIIVIII of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a top plan view of an alternative form of mattress handle wherein the grip portion thereof is formed separate from the terminals and, subsequently, linked to them, the terminals being shown mounted on a part of the mattress wall;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a decorative element utilized as a grip in producing a handle of the type illustrated in FIG. 9;

FIG .11 is a transverse cross-sectional view on the line XI-XI of FIG. 9.

In the constructions illustrated and described herein, there is broadly disclosed, in accordance with the invention, a mattress handle formed of a plastics material which is particularly adapted, by the provision of sockets thereon, to receive a decorative element disposed either upon or around a grip portion of the handle with the ends of said element disposed within said sockets.

In a first embodiment of the invention, as shown in FIGS. 1-4, the handle H1 comprises a pair of terminals 10-40 and an elongated grip 11 integrally connected at each of its ends to one of said terminals, the handle as a whole being moulded from a suitable plastics material, such as, for example, polyethylene. The terminals 10-10 are securable on a mattress wall 12 by any suitable means such as a pronged ring 13 (see FIG. 3) and a cooperating retaining ring 14, or any equivalent device, the initial condition of the prongs being shown in full line and the final secured condition being shown in dotted line. It will be obvious that, when the prongs are bent to the position shown in dotted line in FIG. 3, the material forming the mattress wall will be compressed against each terminal whereby the handle is held tightly upon said wall.

The exemplary grip 12 is flattened in cross-section, its surface providing a seating in the form of recess 16 for the decorative element as is described further herein, said recess comprising a shallow channel having a base and having undercut side walls 17. The side walls adjacent each end of the recess are thickened as shown at 18 and converge towards one another in the direction of the adjacent terminal 10. This localized thickening as shown at 18 is provided to strengthen the handle at the points at which it is most liable to flexure when being utilized to move a mattress to which it is attached. There is provided adjacent the juncture of each terminal 10* and the grip 11 a socket 19 which itself opens into a passageway extending through the handle.

The term surface asused herein and throughout the specification will be understood to refer to a surface of the grip which is visible when the handle is mounted upon a mattress wall. Thus in the embodiment described herein the surface referred to is the outer surface of the grip, i.e.: the surface of the grip remote from the mattress wall, but it will be understood that, if the grip is formed of a transparent material, the surface referred to may be the inner surface of the grip, i.e.: the surface of the grip adjacent the mattress wall.

As will be seen particularly from FIG. 3, the socket 19 in each terminal which opens into a passageway leading from the outer to the inner surfaces of the handle is defined between an end edge 23 of the base 15 of the grip 11 and a chamfered flange 24 formed on the terminal 10. Retention of a decorative element 20* in socket 19 is thereby enhanced by the interengagement of its respective ends between the two opposed surfaces of the edge 23 and the flange 24. Retention of the element 20 within the recess 16 may, desirably, be further improved by the use of an adhesive compound between the inner surface of the element 20 and the base of the recess.

A decorative element in the form of a substantially flat strip 20 comprises an inner flexible core 21 clad in fabric which may be a woven or knitted decorative fabric sheath 22. Each end of the strip 20 is tapered whereby it may be accommodated within the recess 16 with each tapered end engaged within and concealed by one of the sockets 19 in a terminal 10. The thickness of the strip 20 is slightly less than the depth of the recess 16 whereby the edges of the strip may be retained underneath the undercut portions of the recess side walls 17.

In one method of manufacturing the decorative element, the core 21 thereof is produced in a long length, such as by extrusion, and is then braided. If desired, a length of extruded material may alternatively be indented at intervals to define a plurality of cores 21 connected in series at narrowed necks, after which the respective cores may have a decorative sheath 22 woven around them; the sheath 22 resultantly being narrowed and drawn about the core necks. Subsequently the core and the sheath are severed at the necks or otherwise to produce decorative strips for mounting upon mattress handles. The fact that the sheath is drawn about a neck at each end of a severed strip enables the strip ends to be inserted within the aforesaid sockets of the handle without fraying or unraveling of the sheath ends during such insertion.

A further alternative construction of mattress handle H2 is shown in FIGS. 5-8 wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts hereinbefore described in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-4.

In this construction a grip 11 of substantially sernicircular transverse cross-sectional form is formed integrally with two spaced-apart terminals 310-40; the handle as a whole, again, being formed as a plastics moulding. A seating in the form of a recess 16' extends longitudinally of the outer surface of the grip 11 and is of a substantially semi-circular transverse cross-sectional form for the housing therein of a decorative element 20 which is itself of a substantially circular transverse crosssectional form. At the juncture of each terminal and the grip, there is provided a socket 19 to receive and conceal the ends of the decorative element, such sockets including passageways extending from the outer to the inner surfaces of the handle. To facilitate insertion of the ends of said element within each socket, the inner surfaces 25 of the passageways are curved. The terminals 1010= of the handle may be secured to the mattress wall by the same means as is described in the first embodiment, such means being illustrated in FIG. 7 with respect to the second embodiment. It should be understood, however, that such securing means form no part of the present invention and any equivalent securing means may be utilized.

A further alternative embodiment of mattress handle H is illustrated in FIGS. 9-11 of the drawings wherein like reference numerals again refer to like parts hereinbefore described. In this construction a plastics handle H3 comprises two terminals 10-10 linked together by a grip 11, the grip 11 being formed as a separate integer and subsequently joined to the terminals in a manner further described herein. Each of the said terminals is secured to the mattress wall 12 by means of similar securing means 13 to those hereinbefore described with reference to FIGS. 1-8.

It will be appreciated that, in the two embodiments described hereinbefore with reference to FIGS. l-8, the decorative element is seated upon a gri formed integral with the two handle terminals. However, in the modification illustrated in FIGS. 9l1, the decorative element is modified to actually form the grip 11; the grip comprising a necked core 21' upholstered with a decorative sheath 22' produced by one of the methods hereinbefore described.

In this modification of the invention such an upholstered grip 11 is attached to a terminal 10 by housing and anchoring one of its tip portions 27 by means of, for example, a rivet 28 in a socket 19" provided on each terminal 10 and forming a part thereof.

The insertion of a said upholstered tip portion 27 into a socket 19" may, therefore, be accomplished with little danger of pushing back the overlying sheath 22'. Resultantly the said sheath ends will be housed within the socket 19" along with the tip portion 27 of the core 26 and will be secured therein by the rivet 28. It will be understood that the necking of the grip serves not only to meter it into its desired length and to shape its end margins 27, but it also enables the ends of the sheath 22' to be drawn over said tip portions of the grip whereby said sheath ends are then carried therewith into the terminal sockets 19" wherein they are also protected against friction and subsequent fraying or unraveling.

It is apparent from the foregoing description and reference to the drawings that the decorative element illustrated covers substantially the whole of the outer surface of the grip located between a pair of terminals thereby presenting an attractive appearance to the mattress handle as a whole. It will be appreciated that the colour and pattern of the decorative element will be chosen to blend readily with the side wall of the mattress to which the handle is attached. Moreover the ends of the decorative element in the embodiments referred to are received and concealed within the sockets formed at the juncture of the terminals and the grip whereby a neat appearance is presented and fraying or unraveling of the fabric from the ends of the decorative element is prevented.

It will be understood that the term decorative element as used throughout this specification and claims is deemed to refer to any form of element which disguises or camoufiages the plastic appearance of the mattress handle.

Thus, although the foregoing embodiments relate to the use of a decorative element in the form of a fabric, the invention also envisages the use of a decorative element formed of some other suitable material which may be appropriately notched or blended to the mattress material. For example, the decorative element may comprise an appropriately coloured plastic-coated or metallic foil, which may be mounted on a backing, for enhancing the appearance of a plastic mattress handle. Th: dzcorative element may also, for example, include advertising or identification material therein.

It will be appreciated that the hereinbefore described embodiments of the invention have been selected solely for the expository purposes hereof and should not be construed in a limiting sense, various modifications being readily suggestable to those skilled in the art and the true scope of the invention being restricted only by the claims hereinafter set forth.

What I claim is:

1. A mattress handle including:

an elongated grip;

terminals disposed at each end of said grip for securing the handle to a mattress;

an elongated seating on said grip;

passageways extending in a generally longitudinal direction through said grip at each end of said seating; and

a decorative element complementarily shaped to, and

generally co-extensive with, said seating disposed thereon with each end of said element installed within a said passageway concealing and protecting said ends.

2. A mattress handle as claimed in claim 1 wherein:

said seating has a substantially semi-circular transverse cross-section.

3. A mattress handle as claimed in claim 1 wherein:

said seating, adjacent each said passageway at least, is provided with upstanding side walls; said side walls being undercut for accommodating said decorative element.

4. A mattress handle as claimed in claim 1 wherein:

said seating, adjacent each said passageway at least, is provided with upstanding side walls; said side Walls being undercut for accommodating said decorative element and being convergent towards one another adjacent each said passageway.

5. A mattress handle as claimed in claim 1 wherein:

said decorative element comprises a core encased by a decorative sheath.

6. A mattress handle as claimed in claim 5 wherein:

said sheath is drawn around the ends of the core.

7. A mattress handle as claimed in claim 5 wherein:

said core is extruded of a relatively stiff material.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,986,748 6/1961 Bechik 5-345 2,987,149 6/1961 Finkelstein -57 3,176,326 4/1965 Zysman et al. 5-345 BOBBY R. GAY, Primary Examiner A. M. CALVERT, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 161l0

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