Electric/Mechanical Hammock Rocker

[telebeep]

Here you go, your problem solved - AUTOMATIC ELECTRIC HAMMOCK ROCKER TO SWING HAMMOCKS AND OTHER SWINGING OUTDOOR FURNITURE for $89 on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/AUTOMATIC-ELEC...hammock+rocker

[chackocc]

Check out newtonshammocks.com. It is not powered but very simple to use for your purpose.

[Stinky]

I wonder if you could use an old BBQ rotisserie motor.

[rubberfish]

I wonder if you could use an old BBQ rotisserie motor.

You may be onto something there.

[Jammer817]

Need to find a neighborhood kid who is tired of mowing lawns and pay them by the hour!

[brianb]

Tie a kite to your hammock and let her fly.

[chackocc]

I remember a simple devise. Look up Newton's Hammock, google it.
Looks like a simple device that make you rock.

[MikekiM]

As the ultimate retired guy, I am seeking a powered device to swing my hammock whilst I read a book. I have found no such device by a Google search and wondered if anyone here knows of such a device.

I have one of these.. My 12 year old daughter.

[hove64]

hi guys

i guess all the lazy guys fell asleep on the subject..?

here is a device which seems to work(at least for a bridge hammock)

http://www.boatstogo.com/hammock-rocker-swing.asp

i have an additional rough idea :

1) same like the movie in the link above - a motor rotation, is converted to a Back and forth, horizontal movement ("tug Cycle"), of a "pulling lever", which Pull-Release, on a string, which is tied somehow to the hammock
(or to a mattress under you.??)

2) the tug occur with every swing cycle.

3) Now here is the NEW suggested part:

A) the string is going from the hammock, over a pulley, and is tied to a (minimal) weight, so this weight is going up and down, along with the hammock swinging back and forth)

B) the tug is short, and faster then the swing speed, so every swing, it adds momentum , by temporarily locking on the string.

C) And this is how: The string is running on top of a lever, that is held in place by a spring, from above.

D) The tug initial increased friction (adds to the weight stretch), and forces that lever, to come down, until it catches, and, temporarily, locks the string between 2 friction surfaces (like a crocodile closes its mouth on the poor string, that was flowing freely through it, till now).

E) As long as the crocodiles mouth is closed, this friction allows the tug, to be transferred to the string, and the hammock is pulled.

E) The increased momentum of the swing, plus, the tug cycle ending, make the string loose enough for the lever to go back up, (by the pull of its spring), releasing the string from the "crocodile" friction.

F) so the the string can continue to flow forth, and back, and forth, on the pulley, minimally stretched, between the hammock and the weight, until the next tug kicks in, to temporarily, close the crocodile mouth again, on the string, for another short pull.

Sorry if it came out little complicated.

i am not so good at these things.

a drawing probably would have helped.

To Summarize - it is a Lock and Release mechanism, triggered, some how, by the tug cycle, which allows the pull to be transferred to the string, for a brief moment.

It is easy to understand the concept, when you rock in a hammock, and simulate the
lock-release action, on the string, with your hand.

(Actually, the horizontal speed of the "pulling lever", is continuously increasing, and decreasing.
So if we look at the "Half Cycle", in which both hammock and "pulling lever", are moving in the same direction, we can see that, towards the middle of this half cycle, the increasing horizontal speed of the pulling lever will catch up, and start to exceed, that of the hammock, and that triggers, the "Lock-pull" part.

Towards the end of this "Half Cycle", as the horizontal speed of the pulling lever, decrease, below that of the pulled hammock, the Locking lever, is released)



Do you think it can work?

Is it too complicated?

I hope someone good at these things, will take it farther, and hopefully translate it to something useful, and practical.

THE BOTTOM LINE IS:
WE NEED THE OPTION TO FALL ASLEEP IN A SWINGING HAMMOCK !
ITS OUR BIRTH RIGHT!

[hove64]

On second thought :

Somehow, intuitively, i thought, that the suggested addition,
will increase flexibility, of the device.

But now i am thinking that with speed regulation, provided,
plus, pulling lever length adjustment, we have all the flexibility we need,
and no need for this farther complication.
Simple is, usually, best !