Wind Resistance

Abstract

An enhanced fabric panel has a fabric surface with at least one straight edge, and a row of pockets implemented on the fabric along the one straight edge, the pockets each having an opening facing upward, such that with the one straight edge lying along a ground line with the pockets filled with a weighty material such as sand, pebbles, water or another material having weight, and other edges supported on parts of a rigid structure provides resistance to deformation or movement by impinging wind.

1 . An enhanced fabric panel, comprising:
 a fabric surface having at least one straight edge; and   a row of pockets implemented on the fabric along the one straight edge, the pockets each having an opening facing upward;   wherein the one straight edge lying along a ground line with the pockets filled with a weighty material such as sand, pebbles, water or another material having weight, and other edges supported on parts of a rigid structure provides resistance to deformation or movement by impinging wind.   
     
     
         2 . The enhanced fabric panel of  claim 1  wherein the panel is one side panel of a tent structure, and other side panels of the same tent structure are also enhanced with pockets filled with weighty material. 
     
     
         3 . The enhanced fabric panel of  claim 1  wherein the panel is a flat panel having a width and a length, the one straight edge being one of the lengthwise edges, and the other lengthwise edge is implemented with fasteners compatible with fasteners arrayed along a rigid structure such as a camping trailer, the panel when fastened to the rigid structure with the one straight edge having weighted packets along the ground line forms a wind barrier to wind traveling under the rigid structure. 
     
     
         4 . The enhanced fabric panel of  claim 1  wherein the panel is one of a plurality of panels of a tent structure made to be fastened to a rigid structure. 
     
     
         5 . The enhanced fabric panel of  claim 3  wherein the panel has hook-and-loop fasteners along one or both short edges, allowing the fabric panel in use to be connected to like panels end-to-end. 
     
     
         6 . The enhanced fabric panel of  claim 1  wherein the pockets are formed by folding over an edge of the panel onto itself and providing vertical stitching to close the outer edges of the fold and on the interior of the folded panel at locations along the length, defining the individual pockets. 
     
     
         7 . The enhanced fabric panel of  claim 1 , wherein the pockets are formed separately and are attachable to the one straight edge of the panel with the pocket orientation of individual ones of or of the plurality of the pockets retained by one or more clips, fasteners, cords, wires, or rods. 
     
     
         8 . The enhanced fabric panel of  claim 7 , wherein the plurality of pockets or individual ones thereof may be disoriented from their positions on the panel to spill their contents by manually removing the retainer mechanism holding the individual ones of or the plurality of pockets in position. 
     
     
         9 . A method for stabilizing a fabric panel against impinging wind, comprising steps of:
 (a) forming a row of pockets on the fabric along one straight edge, the pockets each having an opening facing upward;   (b) orienting the panel to position the one straight edge along a ground line;   (c) supporting the panel at edges other than the one straight edge by adjacent structure; and   (d) filling the pockets with a weighty material such as sand, pebbles, water or another material having weight, and other edges supported on parts of a rigid structure provides resistance to deformation or movement by impinging wind.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9  wherein the panel is one side panel of a tent structure, other side panels of the same tent structure are also enhanced with pockets, further comprising filling the pockets of the other side panels with weighty material. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 9  wherein the panel is a flat panel having a width and a length, the one straight edge being one of the lengthwise edges, and the other lengthwise edge is implemented with fasteners compatible with fasteners arrayed along a rigid structure such as a camping trailer, further comprising fastening the panel to the rigid structure by the compatible fasteners with the one straight edge with weighted pockets lying along the ground line, blocking air movement through the area covered by the weighted, fastened panel. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 9  wherein the panel is one of a plurality of panels of a tent structure made to be fastened to a rigid structure, further comprising fastening the tent structure to the rigid structure with the weighted packets along the ground line. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11  wherein the panel has hook-and-loop fasteners along one or both short edges, further comprising connecting like panels end-to-end at the hook-and-loop fasteners. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 9  wherein the forming step comprises folding over an edge of the panel onto itself and accomplishing vertical stitching to close the outer edges of the fold and to close the interior of the folded panel at locations along the length, defining the individual pockets. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the forming step comprises forming the pockets separately and attaching the separately formed pockets to the one straight edge of the panel by one or more retainers comprising clips, fasteners, cords, wires, or rods. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising manually removing the retainers holding the individual ones of or the plurality of pockets in position allowing the pockets to spill their contents.