US1988843A - Cushioning body and method of producing the same - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 22,1?35. c. I LHELD ENB R AND 8 f C USHIONING BODY AND METHOD- OF PRODUCING THE SAME" Filed Aug. 18, 19:51 4 Sheets-Sheet L1 7 c. H. HVELDENBRAPQJD" 1,988,843 v CUSHIONING BODY AND METHOD OF PRODUCING THE SAME File l g- 1931 r 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 I v 7' hL/Efibl? I H [55/ HHE/ Enbziand Jan. 22, 1935. c. H. HELDENBRAND ,8

cusnlonme BODY AND METHOD OF PRODUCING THE sum I r Filed Aug. 1 8, 1931 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 I I I Y Q 7 v I f7 q YHL/F'IZ'DJB I /L 'E/EJ%/ZJIEHZ7EENU/ Patented Jan. 22, 1935 UNITE-D STAT S PATENT. OFFICE CUSHIONING BoDY AND METHOD OF PRODUCING THE; SAME' r 7 Carl H; Heldenbrand, Akron, hio', assignor to" B. F. Goodrich Company, New YorlnN. Y., a' zcorporation'of New York A piicauon'siigust 1s, 1931,1SerialNo. 557,810

29 Claims. (01. 154-33) This invention relates to cushioning bodies suitable for use as upholstery in mattresses, upholstered furniture, seat cushions, and the like, and to procedure for producing the same.

While it has been recognized heretofore that a material comprising" matted hairs. or fibers coated and united at their points of contactwith a .resilient agglutinant substance possesses advantageous cushioning properties, the random arrangement of 1 the fibers which. heretofore has been proposed in suchmaterial has necessitated a the use of a large amount of the fibrous material and the benefits of the material have not been fully availed of, and expeditious manufacture of upholstery units in the desired sizes and shapes from such material'has been attended by some difllculties.

Chief among the objects of this invention are to provide an improved cushioning body having to a high degree the'oualities of softness and resilience with a close approximation tothe desired relation of yield'ability to the amount of load imposed, to provide with economy of material a cushioning body which is capable of maintaining these quaJitiesunderlOngusage, andto provide for iacilitatingthe manufactureof the same. v

Further objects are to providefor simplified manufacture of upholstery, and to produce fibers coated with a flexible agglutinant in such form that the advantageous cushioning properties of the material are efiectively and economically utilized.

More specific objects are to provide for pro-- 35 ducing from the material in sheet form-a cellular body of the desiredcushioning characteristics, and to provide, such a cushioning body in which the cells will have stability against erratic deformation, and in which pressure will beemciently 40 distributed in the structure and the resilience of a comparatively large part of the material will be employed to give the cushioning effect, so

that localized oven-straining of the material will 50 Fig. 2 is a perspective view of apparatusfor forming the sheet material into a cellular structure according to the invention. I

Fig. 3 is a side view of a cushioning element constructed according tothe invention. a

made up of a plurality of the elements'of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a modified form of cushioning element.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a cushioning unit made up of elements of the form ofFig. 5. Fig. '7is a perspective view, partly broken away,

of a modified cushioning unit comprising elements of the form of Fig. 5.

Figs. 8, 9 and-l0 are perspective views of further modified'forms of cushioning units.

Fig. 11 is a side view'of a still further modified form of cushioning unit.

Fig. 12 is'a perspective view of an element of the unit of Fig. 11. I

Figs. 13 and 14 are views similar to Figs. 11 and l2, respectively, but showinga modified construction. I a I Fig. 15 is aperspective view, partly broken away, of-a mattress'comprisinga cushioning unitof the constructionxof Fig. 11.

Fig. 16 is asideelevation partly broken away of apparatus adapted to provide a tubular, long length strip-oi the material.

Referring to the embodiment of Figs. 1 m4, wherein is shown a preferred construction, the cushioning body comprises resilient sheet material indicated at A, which is sinuously folded upon itself into a plurality of loops Or eans 20, 20, alternating. with similar but inverted loops 21, 21 (Fig. 3) to constitute a cellular slab-like element 22. f

The resilient sheet A may be quite thin and is preferably made up of loosely matted fibers, such as animal hair'or vegetable fibers, a large proportion of the fibers preferably extending longitudinally oithe sheet. The fibers are coated and.

united at their'points 01' contact with a resilient agglutinantwhich may be such substance as a flexible glue, or nitrocellulose "compound, but is preferably a rubber composition deposited on the fibers from a rubber cement or from an aqueous dispersion such as latex.

' The sheet A may be prepared by spreading the fibers in the desired loosely matted arrangement upon a flat surfacewith or without the aid of a carding machine, and coating and uniting the fibers by spraying upon them the coating substance in the form of a liquid, this being preferably a natural or artificial dispersion'of rubber containingsuch vulcanizing agentsand other ingredients as may be necessary or desirable to secure in thefinal vulcanized structure a penna- I and preferably, though not necessarily, a coat-' Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a cushioning unit ing of the, resilientnmaterial upon each fiber throughout its length. After the matted fibers have been sprayed with the coating liquid and dried, the sheet of matted ilberspossesses sufficient integrity to facilitate handling of the sheet,

and it may be then submitted to further coating of the fibers, asby immersion in a bath of the liquid. After another drying to remove surplus moisture, the sheet of matted and. coated fibers in its tacky unvulcanized state is'ready to be by the procedure and apparatus illustrated in Fig. 2. A table 23, comprising a suitable supportlooped by means of the rods 32. Therods are' transferred one at a time from the ing frame work is provided with a top 24 having at its material receiving side a downwardly curved portion 25 and at its delivery side a downwardly sloping portion 26 terminating in a vertical wall 27. A platform'is provided at 28 for supporting a supply of the sheet material A in ribbon form, fromwhich platform theribbonis progressively fed up over the curved portion 25 and flat top 24 of the table anddown to a-looping station on the sloping portion 26..

Above the table top-24 there are supported by short columns 29, 29 a lower and an upper tray,

32 and 31, respectively, these trays being spaced apart vertically to afford free passage of the ribbon A between them. Each tray is adapted to accommodate: a plurality of cylindrical . loopforming rods 32, 32,-each of a length somewhat greater than the width of the material A, and each tray is preferably canted slightly toward the delivery side of the apparatus to* cause the rods, when placed transverselyonthe tray, as shown 1mm. 2, to roll toward the delivery end; The trays are formed with end lips 34 and 35, 'respectively,-which limit the free travel of the rods but permit easy manual removal of .each end rod.

The sloping portion 26 of the table is provided with a pair of guide strips 36 and 37 extending along the sides of the table with such space .between them as to accommodate freely the width of-the ribbon and to be spanned bythe rods 32 when the latterare placed across-the table in contact-with the guide strips. These strips 36 and 37 are secured to the table at their lower ends only, by meansof spacer blocks38 and 39, respectively, and extend in cantileverfashion upwardly along the sloping portion 26 of the -tabie with a-space between the guide strips and the table slightly greater than the diameter of a rod 32 so as to accommodate a group of the rods in-.

s'erted beneath the strips from the upper ends .,of the latter, together with materiallooped about the rods and arranged between the strips.

f A suitable retaining structure, comprising rails :f40and41, is secured toth'e table adjacent the ;'vertical wall 27v thereof by a brace 42, with space between the. rails and the table wall to accommodate the material, after it hasbeenloop'ed :tocellular form. g In'the practice ofthis looped material, the ribbon A is fed from the supply platform; 28 over the table top between the trays 30.;and 3lv and down onto the sloping portion '26 ofthe table where it is progressively moved. from the lower tray, is about to be positioned alongside .the previously positioned rods on' top of the guides, whereupon the end rod of v I the upper tray 31 may, by movement longitudinally of the ribbon, be brought to a position alongside the previously positioned rods beneath the guides, the ribbon A by these manipulations being caused to be looped sinuously about the, rods. By repeating this placing of the rods alternately above and below the guides in-contact,with the material, a continuous unit of the looped material may be produced, the rods being removed endwise from the loops after the material has been looped for a considerable extent along the guides, and this loopedmaterial being fed downwardly along the vertical wall 27 to make room for a fresh length of the ribbon to be looped. a

The side walls of adjacent loops are pressed together, preferably while the rods are yetv in the loops, to cause intimate adhesion of the tacky material of the loop" walls along the zones 20a and 21:; (see Fig. 3), which adhesion is made permanent by subsequent vulcanization.

The freshly formed looped material may be fed away from the looping station in continuous form by any suitable means such as a conveyor belt, or, the looped material, after being fed downbetween the guide rails'40, 41 and the vertical wall 27 of the table, may be cut and removed in sec-' tions from behind the guide rails, the guide structure being open at oneside to facilitate'this.

The cellularmaterial 22 may now be vulcanized, but it is preferred first, while it is yet tacky, to build it into the desired shape and size for use as an upholstery unit, such for example as the' example, a mattress, as: illustrated in Fig. 1, in --which a layer of padding material 43 is provided around the cushioning unit and the whole is enclosed in a cover'44. The padding layer 43 serves to present asmooth cover surface and to prevent penetration of fibers through the cover, and by virtue of the rough and tacky surface of the cushioning unit, and especially in the case where the unit is vulcanized in contact with the padding, the padding is caused to be strongly restrained from the' shifting and'bunching which is an objectionable characteristic of most ordinary'padr 4 m I ding material when not'p'roperly restrained. manner of forming the.

After vulcanization, which may be effected in open heat, the contacting wall surfaces, including the zones 20a and 21a'of the loop walls, the contacting surfaces of adjacent layers, and if the unit is cured in contact with a cover or padding, these surfaces of contact as well, are permanently united by the vulcanization of the resilient coat ing, and a'resilient cushioning structure is provided in which there can be substantially nopermanent shifting or packing of the cushioning material during use. As thesheet of matted fibers maybe quite thin, and as the proportion of material to the bulk. of theunitis comparatively small, the desiredlresults may be obtainedwith economy of material; A large part of the sheet material of the cells is adapted to be flexed under load application and a large part of theresilience of the material is therefore utilized for emcient cushioning. The cells inthe form of Fig. 3.are braced laterally by adjoining cells and thecushioning action is effected by well distributed rather than localized flexure or mere lateral careening 'of the cells. The long useful life of this unit is contributed to, moreover, by the fact that but little, if any, frictional wear occurs between contacting cell walls, there being ample space for resilient distortion of 'thewalls without substantial sliding contact, and rubbing of the walls being prevented also by the restraining infiuencelof the adhesion at the many and well distributed zones of wall'contact. V k

Although adhesion between all contacting wall surfaces of the cells is desirable, this is not necessary lnall cases, as when theunit is properly restrained bythe cover of an upholstery unit, the cells due to the resilience ofthe material, are caused to maintain their proper shape and dispo sition in the mass, even aftermany flexures, withouta'great amount of wear br loosening .of the fibers. and with preservation of the cushioning properties. v The cushioning unit may be produced in other cellular forms to give thedesiredresults. Referring to the embodiments of Figs. 5, 6, and 7, the resilient sheet material A is here formed into independent tubes 50, which may bemade by bringing together the lateral margins of a strip of the material and adhering the margins in overlapped relation as at 51. 7 These tubes may be arranged in a plurality of layers, the tubes oieach layer lyingparallel to each other, and adjacent layers being disposed in crossed relation as shown in Fig. .6. The composite unit is preferably assembled before vulcanization, whereby a vulcanized union at the points of contact of the tubesof adjacent layers will be obtained from thecure, and the tubes will thus be held in their desired positions. ,If-desired, a flat. spacer sheet 5201?:

the material may be interposed between each of the layers, and the layers of tubes may be laid parallel to each other instead of in crossed relation,'as shown in Fig. 7.

The tubes of each layer may be positioned alongside one another but are preferably spaced from one anothed suiliciently for free lateraldise tension of the tube walls during flexure of the structure. During compression of. the unit there is a partial flattening of the tubes from their.

cylindrical form with an increase of the contact ing areas between layers byrolling contact of the; flexible walls rather than by objectionable sliding contact. The resilient resistance to :fiexure is maintained undercomparatively heavy loads as. well as the lighter loads, theflexure being mania fested principally by lateral distension .of the curved loops with accompanying decrease in their radii of curvature, and not by anysubstantial careening or collapse, of elements of .the structure or mere localizedflexure of thematerialr The vertical semi-circumference of each tube constitutes in efiect a toggle, which remains broken at no load, as well as under flexure, and retains a substantially uniform mechanical advantage to .resist flexure duringits decrease in radii under distension, and which is thus superior-to the toggle that is formed byan initiallystraight,

vertical cell wall, which, as; an opentoggle,

strongly resists flexure at first, but once'brok'en by fiexure along apnarrowzone, collapses easily as its mechanical advantage rapidly decreases. A- large part of the material, ofthe cells of this form-also, gives its resilience and flexibility to the result of efficient cushioning,.so that local over-straining or excessive fiexure is avoided and as there is substantially no rubbing of wall surfaces, objectionable frictional wear and loosening of the matted fibers is to a'large extent avoided. y

In Fig. 161there is shown an apparatus for manipulating the ribbon material expeditiouslyinto' tubular form of long length whichrmay subsequently be cut into shorter lengths as needed and assembled into cushioning units in various man ners as above described.

, Mounted in a suitable supporting framework,

fragmentaryelements of which are indicated at 100, 100, is a. vertically disposed, cylindrical'mandrel 101 secured at its upper end to the framework and being suspended therefrom with: its lower end free as indicated at 102. A pair of annular winder wheels 103 and 104 are mounted in the framework for rotation in opposite-directions about an axis coinciding with that of the mandrel. The wheels are provided with gear . teeth 105 and 106,respectively, meshing. with respective pinions 107 and 108 which are driven by any 'suitable means-(not shown). 7 1

The oppositely rotating winder'whe'els 103, 104' carry rolls 109, 110, respectively, of the ribbon material A, and are adapted to wrap the ribbons helically about the mandrel in superimposed layers of opposite helices, there being provided a mechanism in the form of a pair of pinch'rolls 111, 112, driven from a suitable source of power by means of coactinggears 113, .114, respectively,- for continuously feeding the qwrapped tubefromi the free end of the mandrel. a

:For supporting theroll 109 onwinder wheel 1 03 there is provided on the wheel face a pair of spaced parallel bracket arms 115, 116 extending.

obliquely toward the mandrel. These arms are formed with lengthwise slots 117, -1 18, respectively, in which ride, floating bushings 119, 120having a removable ribbon 'roll shaft121 journalled thereim At the outer extremities of the bracket arms there is journalled'a removable shaft 122 forsupporting a liner'rewinding roll 123, the ribbcn of roll 109 being preferably interwoundwith a liner to prevent undesirable adhesion of the tacky material. 1 a

The roll 109 is resiliently urged outwardly of the bracket armsby tension springs 124, secured to the floating bushings119, 120-,and to'therlgid bracket arms.

Thearrangement is such that the roll 109 is resiliently urged against the liner rewinding roll 1 123, and as the ribbon A is drawn from roll 109 onto the mandrel, the liner is caused to be wound. ontotheroll 123.. For renewing the supplyof the ribbon material, the rolls. 109 and 123 may be' removed by axially withdrawing thesh aft 121, and 122 and fresh rolls inserted in their stead.

For the ribbon roll 110 there is provided on winder wheel 104 a supporting structure 126,

on the'mandrel in the opposite direction from that of the ribbon of roll 109 during the opposite rotation of the winder wheels.

In order to facilitate slipping of the tacky material along and off the mandrel, a lining 127 of a suitable sheet material, such as cloth or paper, is fed onto the mandrel at its upper end from a supply roll 128, mounted in the framework, and through a horn 129 which folds the liner strip about the mandrel. The ribbon material is then wrapped over the liner and the lined tube is drawn from the free end of the mandrel, the liner facilitating free movement of the. tacky material over the surface of the mandrel and serving also to hold the shape of the wrapped tube and to facilitate the gripping actionof the pinch rolls 111, 112 by stiffening the tube against excessive yielding of its walls.

The tubular material may be cut to length, assembled into units and vulcanized with the liner 127 remaining in the structure, especially if a liner material is used which is non-crinkly so as to be silent under flexure and which is sufliciently flexible to keep from objectionably affecting the yieldability of the cushion. The presence of the liner in some cushioning units may be desirable as an added stifiener and reinforcement without detracting objectionably from the resilience of the unit, but, if desired, the liner may be removed, axially of the tube, preferably before cure.

Due to the reverse helices of the superimposed ribbon wrappings,-the tubular structure possesses considerable form-holding strength which is contributed to by the permanent adhesion of con tacting coat-ed fibers after vulcanization, and if desired, the integrity of the resilient structure may be further enhanced by further coating the material with an adhesive, as by spraying the ribbon during the wrapping operation.

Preferably, the ribbon of each layer is wound with the edges of adjacent convolutions in close contact to form a strong seam by vulcanized adhesion ofv the contacting edge coatings. As there is substantial symmetry of the wrapped structure of opposite helices and substantially uniform wall thickness throughout, the uniform flexure of the cell walls with even distribution of the working stresses in the material is facilitated.

Good results may be obtained by forming the cushioning elements into semi-circular channel shapes, which maybe either of single wall thickness, 'as shown at 60, 60 in the embodiment of Fig. 8, or may be of double wall thickness, as may be effected by. bringing the walls of a tube into contact to produce a C-shaped, double wall element. in laterally spaced relation to a sheet 61 which facilitates building into a multi-layer unit and serves to stabilize the structure and prevent undesirableshifting of the elements. Or, the unit maybe built up of a plurality of pairs of the channel shaped elements with the elements .of each pair opposingly arranged, as shown at 62, 63 in Fig. 9. The elements are held in the desired relation preferably spaced apart sufficiently for freedom from lateral distension,"

by adhesion to upper and lower base sheets 64 and 65' respectively, which may also be of th resilient sheet material A. The invention lends itself well to the procuring of various cushioningproperties, by such simple expedients as varying the thickness of the sheet material orthe density of the matted fibers and coating substance, and making the cells The elements are preferably adhered of the proper shape, size and disposition in the mass. Further variations may be made by providing layers'of 'diflerent cushioning characteristics which act together to produce-the desired characteristics of the whole unit. For example,

layers of similar construction but of different' thicknesses, and thereforeof different degrees or yieldability and resilience, may be assembled to constitute a unit of the desired properties, as shownin the embodiment of Fig. 10, wherein each layer of the unit is ,of the cellular form of Fig. 3, but the layers are of gradually diminishing thickness from one face to the other, the layer '70 of least thickness and of least yieldability being shown as disposed at the bottom of the unit, and the layer 71 of greatest thickness and of greatest yieldability disposed as the top layer of the unit, the intermediate layers being graduated as to thickness and yieldability.

In the embodiment of Figs. 11-15 the resilient elements-are of a proper form to be disposed vertically in the unit'as distinguished from the horizontal arrangement of the, elements in the previously described embodiments. Referring to Figs. 11 and 12, each of a plurality of corrugated elements, similar to one another in size and shape, is formed from a plurality of generally U-shaped sub-elements 81 of the resilient sheet material, the sub-elements being disposed alongside each other, as is clearly shown in Fig. 12, with the outwardly flared margins of adjacent sub-elements adhered to one another at 82 to constitute the corrugated or sinuous sheet elements 83.

Pairs of the corrugated elements 83 are assembled in back to back relation, as shown at 83a-- 83b, and with the respective'pairs abutting each other end on as at 84. The pairs which are composed of the elements 8341-8317 are assembled with the pairs composed of the elements 83c--83d in such manner that the loops having the outwardly projecting seams'82 are disposed partially within the unseamed loops of the adjacent pair as shown in Fig. 11. The contacting side walls of the loops or cells are adhesively united at 85, 85 and these zones of adhesion together with the zones 84, 84 provide zonesof union which are uniformly distributed throughout the mass and contribute to stability of the structure while facilitating emcient fiexure. The adhesion at the contacting surfaces is preferably secured by vulcanization of the contacting coatings during the cure of the unit, which may be either before or after assembly of the unit into the article to be upholstered. Such article may, for example, be a mattress as shown in Fig. in which 86 indicates a cushioning unit constructed in the manner above described, and 87 and 88 designate a layer of padding and a cover, respectively.

Under compression of this unit, lateral careening of each ofthe vertically disposed elements is resisted by the bracing effect bfthe other elements through the many and well distributed zones of union and especially through the end-on abutment of loops at 84, 84. The loops which have the seams 82, 82 are caused to move further into the spaces of the unseamed loops as they are distended and as their radii are shortened under compression of the structure, with the advantages, before discussed, of uniformity of mechanical advantage of the toggle constituted by the arcuate vertical cell walls, and the actionis substantially without sliding contact of the walls and with utilizat'ion-v of the resilience and flexure of a large part of the material rather than by mere localifl fiexure or lateral careening 01 cell walls as would be likely if the U -shaped elements were disposed vertically on end in the structure.

For facilitating manufacture oi. the element, instead of being constructed of a pluralityv of U- shaped sub-elements as above described, it may be formedfrom continuous ribbon or sheet material, as shown at 90, in Figs. 13 and 14, by any suitable method of producing the corrugations. The unit of Fig. 13 Constitutes a plurality of these corrugated elements assembled in alike manner f to that described for the embodiment of Figfll and functioning in the same way.

It will be understoodthat cushioning bodies constructed accordin'gto the invention may be utilized in various associations in articles to be cushioned; that the cellular elements or units may be used in association with sp'rings, pads and other known forms of cushioning devices in an auxiliarycapacity as well asin the capacity of the main cushioning body; t I

Variations maybe made without departing from the scope of the inventionas it'is defined in the following claims, in whichthe word fibers in its various forms is to be understood as meaning any filamentary material whatever may be its origin. I

What is claimed is: 1. 'A cushioning body comprising a resilient cellular structure having cell walls of resilient material comprising fibers held in reticulated sheet form.

2. A cushioning body comprising a resilient cellular structure having reticulated cell walls of fibers united at their crossing positions by a flexible agglutinant.

3. A cushioning body comprising a cellular structure having curved cell walls of resilient reticulated sheet material comprising unwoven fibers united at their crossing positions by rubber composition. 4. A cushioning body comprising a plurality of cells having walls of resilient, reticulated sheet material comprising crossed fibers united at their crossing positions by rubber composition.

5. A cushioning body comprising a plurality of elongated cells having walls of resilient material comprising unwoven fibers held in reticulated sheet form, said cells being disposed in a plurality of superimposed layers in crossed relation with wall surfaces of adjacent layers in adhesion with each other.

6. A cushioning body comprising a plurality of elongated cells having walls of resilient material comprising unwoven fibers held in reticulated sheet form by rubber composition, said cells being disposed in a plurality of superimposed layers in crossed'relation with wall surfaces of adjacent layers in vulcanized adhesion with each other.

'7. A cushioning body comprising a layer of a plurality of contacting cells having walls of reticulated sheet material comprising unwoven fibers, the walls of said cells being adhered to one an other at their zones of contact.

8. A cushioning body comprising a sheet of resilient material comprising unwoven fibers held in reticulated sheet form, said sheet being looped sinuously upon itself in a plurality of cells.

9. A cushioning body comprising a sheet of resilient material comprising unwoven fibers united at their crossing positions by rubber composition, said sheet being looped sinuously upon itself in a plurality of cells.

10. A cushioning body comprising a sheet of re-v in reticulated sheet form by rubber composition,

said sheet being looped sinuously upon itself in a plurality of cells, and the walls being; adhered to one another.

11. A cushioning body comprising'ashe'etoi' of adjacent cells resilient material'comprising unwoven fibers held in reticulatedsheet form by rubber composition, said sheet'beinglooped sinuouslyupon itself in a pluralityof cells and the walls 01 adjacent cells being united in contact with one another.

layers or cells,'fsaid cells havingwalls'oi' resilient material comprising unwovenfibers heldin reticulated sheet form by rubber composition, the

.12. A cushioning bodycomprising a plurality of looped sinuouslyupon'itself in a plurality of cells having contacting walls in' vulcanized adhesion and said layers being disposed in crossed relation withcontacting wall surfaces of adjacent layers in vulcanized adhesion.

which comprises Preparing a sheet of fibersheld inreticulated sheet form and forming saidsheet into a cellular structure.

15. The method of making a .cushioning body which comprises loosely matting fibers in reticulated sheet form, uniting the fibers at their crossing positions to cause them to hold the reticulated sheet form and forming said sheet into a cellular structure.

16. The method of making a cushioning body which comprises preparing a sheet oi'unwoven,

14. The method of making acushioningbody unwoven fibers united at their crossing positions by rubber composition, forming from said sheet a plurality of cells, assembling the cells into a cushe ioning unit and adhering together contacting cells.

19. The method of making a cushioning body which comprises preparing a. reticulated sheet of unwoven fibers united at their crossing position by a flexible agglutinant, looping said sheet sinuously along its length and adhering together wall portions of adjacent loops.

20. The method of making a cushioning body which comprises preparing a sheet of loosely matted fibers coated with an unvulcanized rubber composition, forming said sheet into a cellular structure, and vulcanizing the structure.

21. The method of making a cushioning body which comprises preparing a sheet of loosely mat-,

ted fibers coated with an unvulcanized rubber composition, looping said sheet sinuously along composition, forming from said sheet a pluralityof cells. assembling the cells into a unit, and vulcanizingthe assembled structure.

23. The method of making a cushioning body which comprises forminga cellular structure from reticulated, sheet material comprising unwoven fibers'united at their crossing positions by unvulcanizedrubber composition, pressing walls thereof into intimate contact, andvulcanizing the structure. a V p I 24. The method of making a cushioning body whichcomprises "forming a plurality of elongated cells from reticulated sheet material comprising unwoven fibers united at their crossing positions by unvulcanized rubber compositiomlassembling layers of the cells in crossed relation and vulcanizing the structure. 7

25. The method of making a cushioning unit which comprises preparing a sheet of loosely matted fibersunited at their crossing position by an pressing together the walls of adjacent loops into adhesive engagement,

27. The method of, making a cushioning unit which comprises preparing a strip of loosely matted fibers united at their crossing positions by a flexible agglutinant, wrapping the strip helically about a core while drawing the strip in tubular form from the core. v

28. The method of making a cushioning unit which comprises preparing a strip of loosely matted fibers coated with an unvulcaniz'ed rubber composition wrapping the strip material helically about a core in superimposed layers of opposed helices, stripping the wrapped tubular structure from the core and vulcanizing the structure 29. The method of making a fibrous body which comprises disposing loose fibers in loosely-matted arrangement, uniting the fibers at their crossing positions bye .fiexible agglutinant in a liquid carrier while retaining the open-mesh character of the structure, partially drying it, and forming a plurality of layers of the same into a plied-up cellular structurein which the plies are united by the flexible agglutinant.

QARL HELDENBRAND.

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