New Simmons cable coil cuts motion transfer
By David Perry -- Furniture Today, October 13, 2003
Atlanta — Simmons has invented a new pocketed cable coil design of intertwined wires that it says offers significant improvements in durability and motion separation.
The new cable coil is featured in high-end models of Simmons' completely revamped flagship Beautyrest line, which is debuting at the Grandover Resort in Greensboro on Friday and Saturday during the High Point market.
"This is the next level of better sleep," said Don Hofmann, senior vice president of marketing at Simmons. "This is the first significant change in the pocketed coil since it was first introduced in 1925."
With three wires wound together in the cable design, each spring has three times the amount of working wire as a single wire. There are 102 inches of working wire in each 7 ¾-inch coil.
Simmons officials say this is the first cable coil in the bedding industry. Tim Oakhill, vice president of Beautyrest, noted that cables are used in suspension bridges and for towing cars and ships.
"Multiple wires are stronger than one wire," he said, "and have natural motion-dampening characteristics that help deliver a product with virtually no motion."
Simmons has been developing its new Beautyrest Pocketed Cable Coil for two years. Simmons executives Bob Hellyer and Rick Gladney played key roles.
Simmons has applied for a number of patents on the new cable coil, which it said is significantly more expensive than traditional pocketed coils but absorbs more motion and is far stronger.
"This takes wire to the next level and pocketed coil designs to the next level," Oakhill said.
The cable coil is offered in the portion of the new Beautyrest line that retails at $1,299 and higher. Models retailing from $1,299 to $2,199 include alternating rows of pocketed cable coils and Simmons' traditional pocketed coils.
New Beautyrest models retailing from $2,299 to $3,199 put the cable coils between channels of foam.
The new pocketed cable coils help Simmons achieve higher scores on its "Motion Separation Index," which compares the motion separation of today's Simmons beds with a benchmarked Beautyrest score for a bed introduced in 2000.
The models with cable coils between channels of foam achieve an MSI score of 213, the first time Simmons has surpassed the 200 mark, the company said.
Motion separation is important because it keeps couples from disturbing one another when either partner moves during the night, according to Simmons officials.
