ALL TERRAIN COLLAPSIBLE TENSEGRITY HAMMOCK STAND

摘要

The present invention relates to the field of hammock support structures, but more particularly to those said structures which embrace the tensegrity hypothesis, having multifarious parts, with ease of assembly and disassembly, and lightweight in character. The tensegrity hammock assembly is a tensegrity structure consisting of a discontinuous set of compressed components inside a continuum of tensioned components - including the hammock itself. The counteracting forces of tension and compression result in a stable system that has the ability to yield increasingly to external pressure without breaking. As depicted in Fig. 1 the tensegrity hammock structure assembly of the present invention includes front and rear legs supporting uprights and spaced apart from each other in a longitudinal direction, each of said legs having left and right ends. The hammock of the present invention, hangs from and pulls upon the upper ends of two equidistant uprights, each consisting of struts and cords which are held together by opposing tension and compression. The weight of the occupant of the tensegrity hammock assembly is ultimately supported by the stiffness of the centre of an elevated horizontal strut (8), which connects the equidistant uprights. Since the shape of the structure is variable, the components can be of variable length, once cross-sectional symmetry is maintained. Since the struts are not rigidly attached to each other, the structure can be collapsed and folded to allow ease of transport. The only contact with the ground is at the four corners of the structure which allows usage on uneven surfaces. The lateral stability of the upper ends of the supports allows accessories to be attached, such as a sunshade or a tent. The central strut can be raised to alternatively provide support for a table instead of a hammock without compromising the stability of the structure.