Sinuous Spring Clip Assembly for Quiet, Secure Furniture Mounting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing U-shaped sheet metal clips used to secure sinuous springs in furniture are prone to squeaking due to wear of plastic liners, which allow movement of the wire, and lack sufficient holding strength when inserted into wooden rails.
Innovation Solution
A clip assembly comprising a metal clip with a U-shaped hook portion, a planar body portion, and a flange portion with tacks and grooves, combined with a plastic liner secured within the hook portion via tabs, providing a detent to inhibit wire movement and enhance holding strength.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If plastic liners are used inside U-shaped clips to prevent wire-on-wire noise, then squeaking is reduced, but the plastic liners wear out over time allowing wire movement and creating noise again
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the plastic liner component entirely and replaces it with a metal-to-metal contact system using a sinuous spring clip. The clip's U-shaped configuration with proper geometry directly contacts the wire without intermediate plastic elements, eliminating the wear issue while maintaining noise prevention through smooth metal surfaces and appropriate contact geometry.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention uses a simple metal clip design that is durable and long-lasting, replacing the wear-prone plastic liner with a robust metal construction that maintains its noise-reduction properties throughout its service life without degrading.
2Ease of manufacture
If simple U-shaped metal clips are used to secure sinuous springs, then manufacturing is simple, but holding strength in wooden rails is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enhances the clip's holding strength by adding localized features: teeth on the flange portion that engage with the wooden rail to prevent pull-out, and a properly configured U-shaped hook portion with appropriate radius and thickness that concentrates force effectively. These local enhancements provide superior holding strength while maintaining overall manufacturing simplicity.
3Ease of operation
If clips are interconnected with flexible connectors to allow winding into clinching tool, then operation is enabled, but connector breakage under tensile forces damages machine operation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent describes a system where clips are interconnected through a flexible member that allows the stack to be wound into the clinching tool. The segmentation of the clip stack with flexible connectors between individual clips enables the winding operation while maintaining structural integrity through proper connector design that can withstand tensile forces.
Data Source
AI summary
A piece of furniture includes a rectangular frame for supporting a plurality of sinuous springs. A plurality of clip assemblies are secured to opposed side walls of the frame. Each clip assembly comprises a metallic clip having tabs for holding a plastic liner inside a curved portion of the clip assembly. Each clip assembly also has a detent which inhibits movement of the sinuous spring and has tacks for insertion into the frame. Flexible connectors may be located in grooves of the clip assembly to collate multiple clip assemblies.