Claims
- 1. A hammock comprising a bed formed from a piece of sheet material, said piece of sheet material being gathered at opposite ends, each gathered end being connected to a respective rope which can be tied to a tree,
said bed having a longitudinal direction extending between said gathered ends, and a ridge cord extending in a vertical plane including said hammock's longitudinal axis of symmetry, and secured to each of said hammock's gathered ends, said cord being shorter that the length of said piece of sheet material, so that the bed sags between said ends when the ropes are pulled tight and tied to respective trees.
- 2. A hammock as recited in claim 1, wherein said ropes are continuous extensions of said ridge cord.
- 3. A hammock as defined in claim 1, further comprising means for adjusting the length of said ridge cord between said opposite ends.
- 4. A hammock as defined in claim 1, further comprising
an entrance slit formed in the fabric, said slit substantially bisecting said piece of sheet material widthwise and extending in said longitudinal direction from a first point at one of said ends to a second point approximately midway between said ends, whereby, once the hammock is attached to a pair of trees, a person can enter the hammock from below by standing up through the slit and then reclining on an unslit portion of the sheet material, the slit thereupon being closed by tension in the sheet material resulting from the weight of the person thereon.
- 5. A hammock as defined in claim 1, wherein said piece of sheet material is substantially rectangular before being gathered at opposite ends.
- 6. A hammock as defined in claim 1, wherein said opposite ends of the piece of sheet material comprise a bundle of folds, and an aperture is formed extending through said bundle, a respective one of said ropes being secured in said aperture.
- 7. A method of forming a bed from a piece of sheet material having symmetry about its longitudinal axis, said method comprising
folding opposed lateral edges of said material upward and inward a first time toward said axis, forming a two-layer item having lateral folded edges, folding said lateral folded edges of said material upward and inward a second time toward said axis, forming a four-layer item having lateral twice-folded edges, folding said lateral folded edges of said material upward and inward a third time toward said axis, forming an eight-layer item having lateral thrice-folded edges, folding said lateral folded edges of said material upward and inward a fourth time toward said axis, forming a sixteen-layer item having lateral four times-folded edges, folding said material in half along said axis, forming a thirty-two layer bundle of folds, permanently securing said folds together, and forming holes in said secured folds through which a ridge cord can be inserted.
- 8. A method of hanging a hammock having a bed made of a piece of sheet material, said method comprising steps of
gathering said sheet material at opposite ends, providing a ridge cord for suspending the bed from said opposite ends, securing said cord to said opposite ends in such a way that the effective length of the cord is shorter than the length of the sheet material, whereby the bed sags even when the cord is taut, and suspending the hammock between a pair of trees by tying each of said gathered opposite ends to a respective one of said trees.
- 9. A method according to claim 8, further comprising a step of adjusting the effective length of the ridge cord, whereby one can adjust the sag of the bed for maximum comfort.
- 10. A method according to claim 9, wherein the adjusting step comprises
providing an elongate element having two spaced holes, passing the cord through both said holes forming a bight between said holes, and wrapping a said bight at least around one end of said element to shorten the cord.
Parent Case Info
[0001] This application is a division of copending patent application Ser. 09/262,448, filed Mar. 4, 1999.
Divisions (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09262448 |
Mar 1999 |
US |
Child |
09783026 |
Feb 2001 |
US |