Mattresses endure trials by fire
By David Perry -- Furniture Today, January 25, 2004
ENNIS, Texas — Wondering how your single-sided tight top mattress cushioned with convoluted foam will perform in California's new mattress flammability tests?
A bed of that construction protected with ElkCorp.'s VersaShield fire barrier fabric produced a peak heat release rate of 49.9 kilowatts, well below the 200-kilowatt ceiling set by the California test. That construction is Mattress N-19 in Elk's testing grid, which is available online at Elk's Web site — www.elkcorp.com. (Click on the Elk Technologies section of the home page and go from there.)
Elk has compiled three pages of its test results and has released them to the public — and to potential customers — to help bedding producers see how different types of Elk-protected mattresses perform in trials by fire.
"Our goal is to get the mattress producer comfortable with understanding the test result data and allow them a chance to compare results with other FR component manufacturers," said Frank Kelly, director of sales.
Almost three dozen different mattress constructions are listed, ranging from tight tops to pillowtops. The exact specifications of each are presented, so various bedding producers can see how their own beds might perform.
"Manufacturers like to look at our results," said Dr. Louis Hahn, director of the Technology Center at Elk's Ennis facility. "They see that we have constructions listed that are very close to their constructions."
Elk doesn't guarantee a similarly constructed mattress will achieve the same test results, but it does say the grid provides an indication of how different constructions perform. Producers should do their own testing, Elk says.
All of the constructions listed by Elk easily pass the 200-kilowatt test. In fact, the highest peak heat release rate of any of the Elk-cushioned mattresses listed is 85. Many of the beds score in the 20-50 kilowatt range. That's one of the reasons that Elk officials say VersaShield offers "robust" protection against flames.
Hahn says Elk is the only FR supplier to release a grid of its test results.
"We are demonstrating to the industry that we have solutions that work in real constructions," he said. "We are being open with the potential customers and showing them what we are doing."
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Elk takes FR savvy into bedding arena
Jan 29, 2004
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