US35922A - Improvement in tents - Google Patents

Description

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EnAncoIs A. CHAPELLE, or PAnIs, FRANCE.

IMPROVEMENT IN TENTS. d

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 35,922, dated July 22, 1862.

To. all whom/ it may concern:

Be it known that I, FaANoIs ACHAPELLE, of Paris, in the French Empire, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tents;

and I hereby declare the following to be afull,

clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is asectional elevation of a tentarranged to accommodate four persons; Fig. 2, a plan view of the same, showing it on one side with the tiaps disposed in the form of shelter or extension to the tent, while upon the other side they are shown to hang down to close the tent and afford protection against rain and wind; and Fig. 3 represents a transverse sec tional elevat-ion.

Tents as heretofore constructed afford to the soldier or traveler but insufficient protection. Although they may be made eectually to protect the men against rain, yet they are, in' a 'sanitary point of view,highly objectionable on account of the absorption of the wet by the soil upon which the men are compelled to lie, and which often proves fatal to the most robust. To'avoid these inconveniences is the object of my invention; and it consists in the combination with or attachment to tents known as tente-abri, 7 or any other tent of a similar nature, of -a hammock hung or suspended so as to dispense with the necessity of the mensleeping on the ground, and to insure a comfortable couch, so necessary and important after battle and forced marches.

By my improved tent the men will be preserved against rheumatism, `fever, and other intirmities engendered in encampments, and the wounded may be attended to withl great facility, whereby the tents constitute an anxiliary to ambulances and eldhospitals. Thus, by the addition of an insignificant amount of weight to the tenteabri actuallyin use, I secure the triple advantage, first, of more perfect shelter and protection against the elements; second, a comfortable couch isolated from the ground; and, third, of a free space under the hammock, which may be used as the recepta cle for the guns, knapsacks, canteens, and other articles, to protect which by this means a double roof is extended.

Among the other advantages I would mention that this my improved tent may be pitched and struck in less time than any other in use,

and allows of the men entering it and leaving it instantaneously upon the least signal.

To enable others to make and use my improvements, I shall now proceed to describe its construction, arrangement, and operation.

Tents capable of accommodating four persons are constructed with three uprights, A, driven into the ground about two feet apart. These uprights may be in two parts or formed with sockets or joints B, to connect them together, and are furnished with hooks b near the center for supporting the Inetal rods, to which one end of the cloths or hammocks is attached. The upper ends of the uprights are connected by the rods,which also serve to support the outer covering of the tent. The other end of each cloth or hammock is attached to a metal rod, D, formed with eyes or other convnections at each end. This rod, when the hammock is to be used, is firmly secured to the upper edge of the knapsack by straps or other fastenings, which thus forms a bearing or support for the foot or .lower end of the cloth or hammock, so as to raise it above the ground. Ropes F are attached to each end of the rod which fixes to the knapsack, the ends being tightly stretched up to a peg, which is irmly driven into the ground. Two or Vmore such cloths or hammocks may thus be stretched and supported side by side, (according to the number of uprights employed,) corresponding ones being stretched and supported from the central uprights` in the opposite direction. Each cloth or hammock thus supported forms adry and flexible bed or surface onwhich the soldier or other occupant of the tent can repose with ease and comfort without being exposed to the weather or the injurious effects of lying upon damp ground, while the space underneath the hammocks forms 'a shelter for the arms, ammunitions, provisions, or clothes of the occupants.

The cloth or covering H H of the tent is cut in a rectangular form, so as to shut in the tent at the side by falling almost close to the side, to protect the men against the heat of thesun, rain, or wind, and the parts thus forming the cover are furnished with buttons, hooks, eyelet-holes, or other fastenings to connect them together, and the various parts can in case of need be employed as sacks or receptacles for the use of the commissariat or for baggage.

The whole of the parts are capable of being rolled together to form a package of limited size, which may be carried on the knapsack. For the use of cavalry or travelers, a light portable metal or other support may be substituted for theknapsack, suitably constructed to fold up or attach to the hammock. Tents constructed according to thisinvention may be made for one or any large number of occupants.

Having thus fully described my improvement, I would here observe that I do not Wish to confine myself to the precise dimensions and construction of parts of my improved tent as herein described, it being obvious that some modifications may be effected Without departing from the principle of my invention; butI What I claim is The attachment to and con1bination,with a tent of the character and general disposition F. CHAPELLE.

Vitnesses:

E. MEINARD, GEO. HUTToN.

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