Concave Spreader-Bar Hammock for Stable Multi-Position Support
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional hammock designs restrict users to horizontal orientations, sacrificing adaptability and positional stability, and often require substantial space for installation, while lacking hygienic maintenance features.
Innovation Solution
A spreader-bar hammock assembly with a concave support surface and modular suspension system, allowing transverse, diagonal, and horizontal orientations, and featuring removable support surfaces for easy cleaning, using ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene cordage and reinforced attachment sites.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If conventional hammock designs are used, then horizontal resting orientation is supported, but adaptability to transverse and diagonal positions is restricted
Solution Approach 1:
The hammock employs dynamic spreader bars that can rotate and adjust their orientation, allowing the support surface to adapt to transverse, diagonal, and horizontal positions. The spreader bars are not fixed in a single orientation but can dynamically reposition to accommodate different user preferences and therapeutic requirements, transforming a static structure into a dynamically adaptable one.
Solution Approach 2:
The hammock design integrates multiple functions into a single system: it can support transverse lying, horizontal resting, and diagonal positioning. The spreader bar mechanism serves both structural support and orientation adjustment functions, while the hang points are positioned to enable multiple resting configurations, making the device universally applicable for various therapeutic and recreational needs.
2Area of stationary object
If traditional hammock installation is used, then substantial space is required for hang points, but compact installation capability is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The spreader bars are designed to nest within each other when not in use, allowing the hammock to be compacted to a minimal footprint. The bars can be telescoped or stacked in a nested configuration, enabling easy storage and transport while maintaining the capability for full deployment when installed, thus resolving the contradiction between compact installation and functional versatility.
3Reliability
If fixed support surfaces are used, then structural stability is maintained, but hygienic maintenance and cleanability are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The hammock support surface is segmented into detachable components that can be separated from the spreader bar structure. This segmentation allows the support surface to be easily removed for cleaning, laundering, or replacement while the spreader bars remain in place, maintaining structural stability while enabling straightforward hygienic maintenance of the fabric portions.
4Stability of the object's composition
If complex frames or rigid enclosures are added to address positional instability, then positional stability is improved, but openness, mobility, and ease of use are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The hammock achieves positional stability by optimizing parameters such as the length, thickness, and material properties of the spreader bars, rather than adding complex frames. The hang point spacing and attachment geometry are carefully calibrated to provide stable support for transverse and horizontal positions. This parameter-based approach maintains the simplicity, openness, and mobility of the original design while ensuring adequate positional stability.
Data Source
AI summary
A hammock assembly is disclosed, comprising a flexible support surface configured to enable a user to lie transversely and in other orientations. The assembly includes two load-bearing spreader bars positioned at opposite ends of the support surface, defining a concave shape when suspended to enhance comfort, stability, and positional versatility. A suspension system with modular interconnectors allows the support surface to be attached and detached for cleaning or replacement. Reinforced attachment sites along the lateral margins incorporate overlapping box pleats to distribute tensile loads and increase weight-bearing capacity. The compact design supports installation between hang points spaced as little as eight feet apart, making the assembly suitable for therapeutic, recreational, and space-constrained environments.