Improvements in Hammocks.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 7th July, 1896-Accepted, 22nd May, 1897
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Hammocks.
We, TномAS JOHNSON WOODCOCK, Manufacturer, of 109, Jefferson Street,
Germantown, in the City and Countr of Philadelphia, and State of Pennsylvania,
and DANIEL WILLIAM SHOYER, Merchant, of 390, Broadway, New York City, in
the County and State of New York, both in the United States of America, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
Our invention relates especially to the combination, with a hammock, of a pillow
in such manner that the pillow may be thrown or swung back over the tabs and
partially over the suspension cords so as to lengthen the hammock when deemed
desirable.
A further object of the invention is to provide a spreader pocket to serve as a
connecting medium between the pillow and the body of the hammock.
A further object of the invention is to so effect the attachment between the body
of the hammock and the pillow that the casing for the pillow, the spreader pocket,.
the body of the hammock, and the tabs adapted for attachment to the suspension
cords may all be formed from a single piece of material, and furthermore, the object
of the invention is to provide a fabric of special knitted construction, from which
the hammock is to be made.
The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of the several
parts, as will be hereinafter fully set forth and pointed out in the claims.
Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this
specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts.
in all the figures.
Figure 1 is a perspective view of one end of the completed hammock;
Figure 2 is a perspective view of one end of the hammock, illustrating the manner
in which the casing for the pillow, the tabs and the spreader pockets may be formed
from the same piece of material as the body;
Figure 3 is longitudinal vertical section through one end of the completed
hammock, illustrating the pillow as thrown or swung back in dotted lines; and
Figure 4 is a view of the fabric from which the body of the hammock is
constructed, illustrating the stitches employed in the formation of the same.
The body A of the bammock may be of any desired material, as likewise those
parts connected therewith. At one or both ends of the body a pillow B is hinged
ibereto, preferably within the lines of the tabs D. A spreader C, contained in a
suitable pocket, is made to intervene between the outer side edge of the pillow and
the tabs, the pocket being shown as the hinge connection between the body A of
the hammock and the aforesaid pillow B. The tabs D are attached to suspension
cords F in any approved manner, and the said suspension cords are gathered
together and attached to a ring E or its equivalent. It will be observed that when
the hammock is thus constructed, the pillow may be carried over upon the tabs
and upon the suspension cords, thereby materially lengthening the hammock, and
that the spreader will act in the same capacity whether the pillow be in one or the
other position. Furthermore, by reason of the pillow being connected with the
body of the hammock through the medium of the spreader pocket, the pillow is
rendered much more free than if attached directly to the hammock body, and will
accommodate itself better to any position in which the head of the occupant may

page_text: be placed; and furthermore the pillow will lie as smoothly and as effectively upon
the body of the hammock as an ordinary pillow would rest upon a spring bed
surface, being unattached thereto.
In forming the hammock and pillow from one piece of material, the material 10
of the body is folded inwardly upon itself to form a, loop 11, adapted as a pillow
casing, and this loop is closed at its outer side edge inside the outer end line of the
body by means of a line of stitching 12, or its equivalent. The material is then
carried outward beyond the end of the body, and inward between the body and
the upper stretch of the material outside of the line of stitching 12, and this latter
looping of the material is transversely divided by a line of stitching 13, which is
passed through the return of the material and likewise through the body at its end,
the line of stitching 12 passing only through the loop 11 and not through the body.
By means of the latter line of stitching an end loop 14 is obtained, and a pocket 15
intermediate of the two loops 11 and 14, the pocket 15 being adapted to receive
the spreader 16, which may be of wood, metal, or other desired material.
The pillow is introduced into the casing or loop 11, and the ends of the latter
are then closed up, and after the spreader is in position in this pocket its ends are
closed in any suitable or approved manner. The tabs D are formed by cutting the
outer loops 14, as indicated in dotted lines in Figure 2, the edges of the tabs being
rounded in any suitable manner.
The hammock is constructed of knitted material as shown in Figure 4 the
material consisting of warp threads A', which are arranged in-serpentine order, and
in relation to each other as shown, and the serpentine threads are connected together
at the end portions of their loops by means of enchained threads B', any desired
number of similar chain threads B2 crossing the straight members of a serpentine
thread and forming ties therefor, the loops thus formed being open at the top and
the threads being continued down through the loops to form the next one, each
loop or link of the chain embracing or receiving a distinct member of a serpentine
warp. The material thus made may be cut or otherwise broken or severed at any
point in the body without causing unraveling, and it will be understood that the
warp threads and chain stitches or threads are brought sufficiently close together
to form a compact body material, the various threads or stitches being exaggerated
in the drawings and separated so that their relation to each other may be more
clearly traced.
In this manner the chain threads serve to connect the straight portions of the
undivided warp threads and also the return portions of opposing or adjoining warp
threads and constitute a body or filling for the fabric of superior character and one
through which an object of comparatively large diameter may be passed without
tearing the threads as the threads will open for the passage of the object and if a
thread should become broken the opening made thereby will not be so liable to
increase in size as it would in the ordinary knit fabric. The mechanism by which
the hereindescribed fabric is produced is of ordinary kind.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is,
1. The combination, with a hammock body, of a pillow having a hinged connection
therewith, as and for the purpose specified.
2. The combination, with a hammock body, of a pillow having a hinge connection
therewith within the line of the tabs adapted for attachment to the suspension
device, as and for the purpose specified.
3. The combination, with the body of a hammock, of a pillow provided with a
spreader pocket, the said spreader pocket having a hinged connection with the body
of the hammock, whereby the spreader pocket and the pillow may be carried in
direction of the end of the hammock to increase the capacity of its body, as and for
the purpose specified.
4. The combination, with a hammock body, of a spreader pocket having a hinge

page_text: connection with the said body within the line of its tabs, and a pillow attached to
the said spreader pocket and adapted to rest upou the body of the hammock either
at one or the other side of the point of connection between the spreader pocket
and the body of the hammock, as and for the purpose specified.
5. In the construction of hammocks, the material of the body looped upon its
upper face, forming a pillow casing, the said loop being within the line of the body,.
substantially as shown and described.
6. In the construction of hammocks, the material of the body looped upon itself
at the top of the body, a loop extending inwardly from the outer end of the body,.
the said loop being divided transversely, one division constituting a casing for the
pillow and the other division a pocket for the spreader, as and for the purpose.
specified.
7. In a hammock, the combination, with the body thereof, of a pillow provided
with a spreader and having a hinged connection with the said body, as and for the
purpose specified.
8. A hammock, substantially as herein shown and described.
9. A knitted fabric, composed of serpentine warp threads and chain threads or
stitches crossing the several warp threads connecting their straight portions and
likewise connecting opposing or adjacent warp threads, substantially as described.
10. A knitted fabric composed of serpentine warp threads arranged in parallel
order and chain threads or stitches, sundry of which cross and connect the straight.
portions of individual warp threads while others of said chain stitches or threads
cross and connect the return portions of opposing or adjacent warp threads,.
substantially as shown and described.
11. A knitted fabric composed of serpentine warp threads placed in parallel,
order and interlocking arrangement and chain stitches or threads sundry of which
extend longitudinally of the warp threads connecting their straight portions while.
others of the chain stitches or threads connect the return portions of the warp.
threads, each chain stitch or thread consisting of a number of links and a connecting
strand passed through all of said links, the links and strands being formed from a.
length of thread, the links of the chain having a locking engagement with the
portions of the warp threads crossed by the chains, substantially as shown and.
described.
Dated this 7th day of July 1896.
A. M. & WM. CLARK,
53 Chancery Lane, London, Chartered Patent Agents..