Patent ID: 6347638
Filing Date: 2002-02-19
Classification: E04H

Abstract:
An article of manufacture for a portable shelter suspended above the ground comprising a flexible floor supported by a plurality of load lines, adding strength to the floor and also providing attachment means for attaching the lower portion of said shelter to two load bearing members separate from one another by at least the distance of said shelter; a flexible framework including load lines running above, parallel and slightly inward of the longest edges of said floor, providing attachment means for attaching the upper portion of said shelter to an upper portion of said load bearing members or other appropriate members of equal or higher elevation than upper load lines; having vertical load lines interconnecting said upper load lines with said floor and support lines thereof; with spreader bars provided at each of shortest edges of said floor for laterally stressing said floor when said shelter is suspended; with a canopy suspended over said floor for enclosing a space, including means for passage through said canopy, the canopy itself suspended upward at least in part by means of said upper load lines; all of said load lines as a whole comprising said flexible framework, said framework together with said spreader bars providing a structure which distributes the weight of a load evenly or near-evenly among the upper load lines and lower load lines and eventually the attachment means to said load bearing members and to the members themselves, also maintaining itself in an upright position regardless of where a load may be placed on said floor and also regardless of moderate to heavy winds, also providing a relatively level lateral spread and resisting longitudinal sag brought on by loads, all without necessitating the use of more than two rigid members each only as long as the structure is wide, and also without requiring that the shelter by any means attach to the ground for any reason.