IMPROVEMENTS IN THE ARRANGEMENT AND CONSTRUCTION OF HAMMOCK BEDS, MORE PARTICULARLY APPLICABLE IN TENTS
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John William Harper, of Stowmarket, in the
County of Suffolk, Surgeon, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE ARRANGEMENT AND CONSTRUCTION OF HAMMOCK BEDS, MORE PARTICULARLY
APPLICABLE IN TENTS.”
Sealed the 3rd September 1872, and dated the 17th April 1872.
·
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the. said John William Harper
-
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 17th April 1872.
I, JOHN WILLIAM HARPER, of Stowmarket, in the County of Suffolk,
Surgeon, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE ARRANGEMENT AND CONSTRUCTION OF HAMMOCK BEDS,
MORE PARTICULARLY APPLICABLE IN TENTS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the arrangement of sleeping accomodation
for soldiers and others, more particularly in circular tents such as are
used in camps, and to the means of providing the same in a simple,
cheap, and portable form.

page_text: In such circular tents as are now generally employed in encampments
it is usual for the men to sleep on the ground, their feet being towards
the central pole and their bodies laid in directions radiating from the
centre outwards. This is objectionable on the score of health and
comfort, because of the frequent dampness or insalubrity of the ground i
and the difficulty of obtaining straw or other materials for the men to
lie on, as well as of the want of ventilation under their beds. The
object of my improved arrangements is to remedy these evils, and I effect
this by providing for each of the men a peculiar kind of hammock bed
radiating from the central pole at a little distance from the ground.
Thus the men are provided with a soft and yielding support removed
from the dampness of the ground, with space below for ventilation.
The hammock bed and its support which I employ are constructed
with a view to cheapness, simplicity, and portability. The hammock
bed consists of a sheet of canvas or other similar fabric, about 2 yards:
long and about % yard broad. The one end is provided with several
rings, loops, or holes strengthened at the edges by overcasting or other-
wise. A cord is passed through these rings, loops, or holes, and
attached to a hook, link, or eye on a ring fixed on the central pole,
which ring has as many of the hooks, links, or eyes round it as there 2
are hammocks to be slung in the tent. The other end of the hammock
cloth has three cords attached to it, one in the middle and one near each
of its edges. To support this end I employ a frame consisting of three
pieces of wood, which cross each other in their middles and have a pin
passed through the crossing. When these frames are not in use the :
three pieces can be folded up into the breadth of one of them by turning
them on the central pin which unites them, and can then be rolled up
in the hammock cloth, so that each hammock bed with its frame forms
a light and portable roll, the three cords being used to tie up the roll.
For use in supporting the hammock bed the frame is unfolded, so that
two of its pieces form a cross or X and the third piece stands upright in
the middle. The end of the hammock cloth is secured by its three cords
to the tops of the three pieces of the frame respectively, the lower ends of
the three pieces of the frame resting on the ground. To steady the frame
in its upright position the cords are carried back diagonally, and made
fast to a peg driven into the ground some distance beyond the head of
the hammock bed. Owing to this mode of forming, supporting, and
slinging the hammock beds they take a tapering form, being gathered in
"

page_text: .
at the end next the central pole, where the feet of the sleepers are, and
having their full breadth at the outer ends, where the heads of the
sleepers are, thus suiting the radiating arrangement and at the same
time offering convenient accomodation for the sleepers. In order to
lessen the crowding at the ends next the central pole it is convenient to
have two rings on it, one a little above the other, and to sling the
hammock beds to the upper and to the lower ring alternately, so that
on the one level of the centre there is only half of the whole number of
hammock ends. Each hammock bed is thus slung somewhat out of
level, so that the feet of the sleeper are a few inches above or below his
head;
but the difference of level is so inconsiderable that it is not felt
as an inconvenience.
Although I have described my Invention as particularly applicable to
circular tents, yet it will be evident that hammock beds constructed as
above described are also applicable in tents, huts, or apartments of other
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John William Harper in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 11th October 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
WILLIAM HARPER, of Stowmarket, in the County of Suffolk, Surgeon,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of April, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-
fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said John William Harper, Her special licence
that I, the said John William Harper, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said John William Harper, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with,
and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the
term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for “IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE ARRANGEMENT AND CONSTRUCTION OF HAMMOCK BEDS, MORE PARTICULARLY

page_text: :
APPLICABLE IN TENTS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
John William Harper, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should
particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and
in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same to 5
be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months
next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John William Harper, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and 1
by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the accom-
panying Sheet of Drawings, and to the figures and letters marked
thereon, that is to say:-
This Invention relates to the arrangement of sleeping accommodation
for soldiers and others, more particularly in circular tents such as aro 18
used in camps, and to the means of providing the same in a simple,
cheap, and portable form.
In such circular tents as are now generally employed in encampments
it is usual for the men to sleep on the ground, their fect being towards
the central pole and their bodies laid in directions radiating from the 20
centre outwards. This is objectionable on the score of health and
comfort, because of the frequent dampness or insalubrity of the ground
and the difficulty of obtaining straw or other materials for the men to
lie on, as well as of the want of ventilation under their beds. The
object of my improved arrangements is to remedy these evils, and I 2
effect this by providing for cach of the men a peculiar kind of hammock
bed radiating from the central pole at a little distance from the ground.
Thus the men are provided with a soft and yielding support removed
from the dampness of the ground, with space below for ventilation.
The hammock bed and its support which I employ are constructed 30
" with a view to cheapness, simplicity, and portability. The hammock
bed consists of a sheet of canvass or other similar fabric, about 2 yards
long and about ¾ yard broad. The one end is provided with several
rings, loops, or holes strengthened at the edges by overcasting or other-
wise. A cord is passed through these rings, loops, or holes and 35
attached to a book, link, or eye on a ring fixed on the central pole,
which ring has as many of the hooks, links, or eyes round it as thero

page_text: are hammocks to be slung in the tent. The other end of the hammock
cloth has three cords attached to it, one in the middle and one near each
of its edges. To support this end I employ a frame consisting of three
pieces of wood, which cross each other in or near their middles and have.
a pin passed through the crossing. When these frames are not in use
the three pieces can be folded up into the breadth of one of them by
turning them on the central pin which unites them, and can then be
rolled up in the hammock cloth, so that each hammock bed with its
frame forms a light and portable roll, the three cords being used to tie
up the roll. For use in supporting the hammock bed the frame is
unfolded, so that two of its pieces form a cross or X and the third piece
stands upright in the middle. The end of the hammock cloth is secured
by its three cords to the tops of the three pieces of the frame respec-
tively, the lower ends of the three pieces of the frame resting on the
ground. To steady the frame in its upright position the cords are
carried back diagonally and made fast to a peg driven into the ground
some distance beyond the head of the hammock bed. Owing to this
mode of forming, supporting, and slinging the hammock beds they take
a tapering form, being gathered in at the end next the central pole,
where the feet of the sleepers are, and having their full breadth at the
outer ends, where the heads of the sleepers are, thus suiting the radiating
arrangement, and at the same time offering convenient accommodation
for the sleepers. In order to lessen the crowding at the ends next the
central pole it is convenient to have two rings on it, one a little above
the other, and to sling the hammock beds to the upper and to the lower
ring alternately, so that on the one level of the centre there is only half
of the whole number of hammock ends. Each hammock bed is thus
slung somewhat out of level, so that the feet of the sleeper are a few
inches above or below his head; but the difference of level is so incon-
siderable that it is not felt as an inconvenience.
Although I have described my Invention as particularly applicable to
circular tents, yet it will be evident that hammock beds constructed as
above described are also applicable in tents, huts; or apartments of other
forms

page_text: tent; Figure 3 represents to an enlarged scale an end view of the
frame for supporting the outer end of the hammock cloth.
A is the central pole, on which are fixed hooks or eyes B. These may
be fixed in two tiers, as shewn in Figure 2, so that the foot ends of the
hammock beds may be alternately a little above and below the general
level, as described above. O is the frame for supporting the head of the
hammock bed. It consists of three pieces of wood jointed together on a
pin, so that when not in use for supporting the bed they can be folded
together, and rolled in the hammock cloth. D are the cords for steadying
the frame O by carrying them down diagonally, and attaching them to
a peg E in the ground. The cords D serve to tie up the roll of the
hammock cloth with the frame C within it when the hammock beds are
not in use.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I claim,-
•
First. The use of hammock beds constructed, supported, and arranged
substantially as herein described.
Second. The use for supporting the head of such a hammock bed of a
frame consisting of pieces jointed together, so that when not in use they
can be folded together into a compact form for stowage or transport, 1
substantially as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John William Harper, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Tenth day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
two