Appeal No. 2003-0858 Page 8
Application No. 09/557,509
Long
Long's invention relates to spring assemblies for mattresses, cushions and the
like. In the background of the invention, Long informs us that it was known to form a
spring assembly from a plurality of longitudinally extending bands of springs disposed
side by side and connected together by helical lacing wires which extend transversely of
the bands and embrace portions of the bands. It was further known in the art that the
bands of springs comprised a single length of spring wire shaped to form a plurality of
individual coil springs arranged in a row, one end turn of each coil spring lying adjacent
to a top face of the band, and the other end turn of each coil spring lying adjacent to a
bottom face of the band wherein the adjacent coils of the bands of springs were
interconnected to adjacent coils by a pair of interconnecting segments of wire integral
with the coil springs. However, Long teaches that the presence of helical lacing wires in
such continuous band spring assemblies can give rise to production problems and limit
applications of the product. For example, the application of the helical lacing wires to
the assembly must be performed mechanically in order to be practical, and such
mechanical assembly can give rise to production machinery jams and production work
stoppages. Furthermore, helical lacing wires in such a spring assembly can create
undesirable noise and be a weak point in the assembly if the helical lacing wires are
overstressed, bent, and caused to fracture.
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