That’s roughly what Goldfire Innovator does.Īccording to Vincent Lyons, vice president of engineering and technology at Leggett & Platt, the company’s mattress designers had Goldfire Innovator at their sides as they pored over the mechanical, ergonomic, and materials-science problems associated with building a collapsible box spring. Imagine that you’re a product developer who likes to make notes and draw diagrams on a whiteboard- but that whiteboard is attached to software that understands the intention behind your drawings, labels, and notes searches the Web and global patent databases for designs that employ similar concepts automatically serves up references to related literature and even makes suggestions about how to improve your sketches. Despite the company’s history of bedding innovation, however, the L&P engineers weren’t quite sure how to squeeze a fully upholstered box spring into a box small enough to put on a UPS truck.įortunately, Leggett & Platt owned a piece of software called Goldfire Innovator, made by Boston-based Invention Machine. Leggett invented the spiral steel coil bedspring in 1883.
While the Carthage, MO-based manufacturer isn’t a household name, almost every mattress sold contains some L&P components indeed, co-founder J.P. That was the idea that struck engineers at Leggett & Platt a couple of years ago. But what if there were a way to make a box spring that collapsed to a manageable size for shipping, then unfolded to its full dimensions in the customer’s home? Then the lowly box spring might finally be able to join the Internet revolution.
Which explains why box springs (otherwise known as mattress foundations) aren’t exactly big sellers on e-commerce websites. If you’ve ever tried to wrestle a box spring up a stairway or down a narrow hall into your bedroom, then you can imagine how comically awkward and expensive it would be to ship one via UPS or FedEx.
0 kommentar(er)
