Coil string staging area apparatus and method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10696540-B2
Application number	US-201615003957-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 22, 2016
Priority date	Apr 15, 2015
Publication date	Jun 30, 2020
Grant date	Jun 30, 2020

Abstract

A continuous coil string staging system is provided herein that includes at least one coiler configured to output at least one continuous coil string, at least one assembler configured to assemble the at least one continuous coil string into a mattress assembly, and at least one coil string staging apparatus disposed between the at least one coiler and at the least one assembler. The at least one coil string staging apparatus can have an input, a staging buffer, and an output such that the coil string staging apparatus receives the at least one continuous coil string that is output from the at least one coiler and outputs the at least one continuous coil string to the assembler such that there is a buffer of coil string available to the assembler. Various coil string staging apparatuses and methods are also provided herein.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A continuous coil string staging system, comprising:
at least one coiler configured to output at least one continuous coil string;
at least one assembler configured to assemble the at least one continuous coil string into a mattress assembly; and

at least one coil string staging apparatus disposed between the at least one coiler and at the least one assembler, the at least one coil string staging apparatus comprising an input configured to receive the at least one continuous coil string including a mouth to receive the at least one continuous coil string and a conveyor; and a staging buffer configured to store at least a portion of the at least one continuous coil string such that the staging buffer has a buffer capacity, wherein the staging buffer comprises a proximal input end supporting the input, a distal output end supporting an output, a first side wall, a second side wall, and a floor disposed therebetween, wherein the input and the output are disposed above the staging buffer, wherein multiple rows of the continuous coil string are arranged on the floor between the first and second walls within the staging buffer to define the buffer capacity.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the input comprises at least one conveyor configured to transfer the continuous coil string from the at least one coiler to the at least one coil string staging apparatus.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the output comprises at least one conveyor configured to actively output the continuous coil string from the coil string staging apparatus to the assembler.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the output comprises at least one conveyor configured to passively output the continuous coil string from the coil string staging apparatus to the assembler.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein a distance between the first side wall and second side wall is greater than a width of the continuous coil string.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the buffer of coil string available to the assembler is greater than or equal to an amount of continuous coil string sufficient to produce at least one mattress assembly.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the system has one staging apparatus for every one coiler.

8. A coil string staging apparatus, comprising:
an input configured to receive a continuous coil string including a mouth to receive the continuous coil string and a conveyor;
a staging buffer configured to store at least a portion of the continuous coil string such that the staging buffer has a buffer capacity, wherein the staging buffer comprises a proximal input end supporting the input, a distal output end, a first side wall, a second side wall, and a floor disposed therebetween, wherein multiple rows of the continuous coil string are stackedly arranged on the floor between the first and second walls within the staging buffer to define the buffer capacity; and
an output configured to discharge the continuous coil string through the distal output end of the staging buffer to the assembler, wherein the input and the output are disposed above the staging buffer.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the input is configured to receive the continuous string directly from a coiler.

10. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the output is configured to output the continuous string to an assembler.

11. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the input comprises a conveyor.

12. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the output comprises at least one conveyor configured to actively output the continuous coil string from the coil string staging apparatus to an assembler.

13. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the staging buffer comprises at least one transparent side such that the stored portion of the continuous coil string is visible.

Assignees

• Dreamwell Ltd

Inventors

• Fowler Gregory
• Jan Francis G

Classifications

• B68G15/00 Primary

  Auxiliary devices and tools specially for upholstery · CPC title

• B65G47/5109

  first In - First Out systems: FIFO · CPC title

• B21F33/002

  Coiling or packing wire network · CPC title

• B21F33/04

  Connecting ends of helical springs for mattresses · CPC title