US2694208A

US2694208A - Hammock

Info

Publication number: US2694208A
Application number: US249760A
Authority: US
Inventors: Harold A Christensen
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1951-10-04
Filing date: 1951-10-04
Publication date: 1954-11-16
Anticipated expiration: 1971-11-16

Description

N 1954 H. A. CHRISTENSEN HAMMOCK Filed Oct. 4, 1951 I m m HMPQHHHHHH 14770KNEYS United States Patent G7 HAMMOCK Harold A. Christensen, Brooklyn, N. Y.

Application October 4, 1951, Serial No. 249,760

2 Claims. (Cl! 5.-122) This invention relates to a structurally and functionally improved hammock.

It is an object of the invention to provide a unit of this character which will be extremely stable so that there will be substantially no danger of the hammock overturning incident to the occupant shifting his position or, in fact, assuming a position adjacent the side edge of the device.

A further object is that of providing a hammock in which a person may recline without the unit sagging and partially enveloping him; this despite the fact that rigid transverse stiffening members are not contemplated for inclusion in the assembly.

Still another object is that of designing a device of this type which may be economically produced by rela tively unskilled labor and which, when assembled, will furnish a unitary rugged hammock capable of prolonged use with freedom from all difficulties.

With these and other objects in mind reference is had to the attached sheet of drawings illustrating practical embodiments of the invention and in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the hammock;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation'thereof;

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken along the lines 33 and in the direction of the arrows as indicated in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 shows one of the segments or units providing the hammock:

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view in enlarged scale taken along the lines 55 and in the direction of the arrows as indicated in Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary enlarged plan view of an end portion of the hammock;

Fig. 7 is a sectional view taken along the lines 7- -7 and in the direction of the arrows as indicated in Fig. 6; and

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary view of an end portion of the hammock embodying a desirable reenforcing structure.

While the present unit may be formed in any desired manner and of any proper material it is ordinarily preferred that it be provided by a pair of main sections preferably formed of canvas. One such section has been shown in Fig. 4 and includes a body 10, the side edges 11 of which are curved in an outward direction and the end edges 12 of the same being preferably blunt the outwardly curved side edges 11 on each side of the body piece have arcs. These arcs which describe the curvature of the side edges 11 have radii of equal length. The body 10, therefore, has symmetrical sides. In the hammock of this invention each hammock is composed of at least two of the body pieces 10. As shown especially in Fig. 1 a pair of these sections are disposed adjacent each other and their side edges or zones connected by, for example, stitching 13. The body portions 10 which are secured together have identical side edges 11. These identical side edges have identical arcs. In joining the two body portion pieces 10 together along their contiguous edges by the stitching 13 as shown in Fig. 1, the two identical side edges 11 are mutually secured. So connected the resultant assembly will be both transversely and longitudinally curved. It will correspond substantially to the surface area of a sphere segment. The resultant straight line as shown in the stitching 13 in Fig. 1 is the result of the longitudinal curving of the hammock of this invention in the plane perpendicular to the general surface of the hammock. As the hammock is generally suspended horizontal to the ground this longitudinal curve, which is the result of forming a straight line in the mutually 2,694,208 Patented Nov. 16, 1954 attached edges of the body piece 10, is curved in the normally vertical dimension. This is best shown in Fig. 2. Grommets 14 may be disposed adjacent the ends of the assembly and serve to receive ropes 15 by means of which the hammock is properly supported in position.

That support may conveniently be achieved by passing the rope around vertical members or posts 16. Under these circumstances and as illustrated especially in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 the body of the unit will have a natural curve in all directions. By this structure or design a person reclining in the hammock, will, in conjunction with the latter, never present a center of gravity factor such that the unit will tend to turn upside down. In fact even if a person disposes his body adjacent the outer edge of one of the segments 10 the hammock will not upset.

Also the material of the hammock body will be under substantially even tension throughout and will not tend to envelop or enclose the body of the user. In this connection it is preferred to employ a unit which will tend to maintain the hammock distended in a transverse direction. To this end a sleeve 17 may be provided adjacent each end of the device and receive a spreader 18 conveniently formed of a metallic or plastic strip or spring body. The sleeve 17 is conveniently incorporated in the assembly by employing not alone the adjacent portions of the segments 10 but also a doubling or reenforcing layer 19 adjacent those ends. That reenforcing piece may be secured against displacement by, for example, stitching. To further reenforce the parts at this point the ends of segments 10 may be turned back upon themselves so that the grommets 14 pass not alone through these double-thickness end portions but also through the layer 19.

The body of the hammock may be provided with an extension 22. When the latter is folded back upon the body of the hammock as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 8 then, after the parts are secured together by stitching or in any other desired manner, a double-thickness area of maximum strength is provided. Through this portion the grommets or their equivalents may extend, and no fear need be felt that these elements will tend to tear through the material.

The dimensions of the unit may, of course, be varied in numerous particulars. It has been found, however, that the desired advantages are present when the parts have generally the proportions shown in the drawings and include, for example, an overall length of 9' 4" and a maximum width at a point intermediate the ends of the unit of 36".

Thus, among others, the several objects of the invention as specifically aforenoted are achieved. Obviously numerous changes in construction and rearrangement of the parts might be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined by the claims.

I claim:

1. In a hammock the, combination of a pair of elongated panels, at least one longitudinal edge of each of said panels described by a convex arc extending along the entire length of said panel, the radii of both of said arcs on their respective panels being of substantially equal length, means for attaching said arced longitudinal edges together so as to secure said panels together, a main hammock body formed by said secured panels having a natural cupped shape, a stiffening means aflixed to said main hammock body adjacent to an end thereof and perpendicular to said secured arced longitudinal edges, a pair of reinforcing pieces each attached at an end of said main hammock body and providing a double thickness at said ends and means associated with the ends of said hammock for supporting said hammock in a suspended position.

2. in a hammock the combination of a pair of elongated panels, a longitudinal edge of the first of said panels described by a convex are extending longitudinally of said panel, a longitudinal edge of the second of said panels described by an are extending longitudinally of said panel, said radii of said arced longitudinal edges of said first and second panels being of substantially equal length, means for attaching said arced longitudinal edges together so as to secure said panels together, a main hammock body formed by said secured panels having a natural cupped shape, a stiffening means afiixed andadiacent to each end of said main hammock body, a reinforcing piece at each end of said main hammock body extending from theend of said main hammock body, over said main hammock body to and including said adjacent stiffening means and means receiving hammock supporting means associated With the reinforcing piece and the stiffening means at each end of said main hammock body.

Number 15 Number UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Forbush Nov. 5, 1861 Pratt Mar. 6, 1883 Farwell Oct. 30, 1888 Connery Apr. 12, 1910 Eldridge Nov. 22, 1910 OReilly Sept. 18, 1917 Goudie July 11, 1933 Kearny May 15, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain of 1870