Waterbed mattress with hexagonal baffle structure, and method and

Abstract

Waterbed mattress having a baffle structure comprising a buoyant foam pad adapted to float within the mattress, and a plurality of hexagonal cells beneath the buoyant pad. The cells are arranged in a honeycomb array with the sides walls of adjacent ones of the cells facing each other in a closely spaced parallel relationship. In some embodiments, the bottom portions of the cells are attached to a continuous lower sheet which serves as a lower baffle, and in others the cells have independent bottom walls. The structure with the upper and lower baffles is manufactured by feeding sheets of foam and flexible material past a row of heat sealing dies having spaced apart sealing surfaces movable between open and closed positions. Tubular lengths of flexible material are inserted into the dies with end portions of the tubular lengths being wrapped over the sealing surfaces. The sheets of foam and flexible material are fed on opposite sides of the dies, and the dies are actuated to bond the end portions of the tubular lengths to the sheets and thereby form a row of cells. Thereafter, the dies are opened and the sheets are advanced to bring another portion of the sheets into alignment with the dies so that another row of cells can be formed. The dies are shifted laterally of the sheets between successive rows so that the cells will be arranged in a honeycomb pattern.