Natural Canopy and Foldable Roof

Abstract

An article of manufacture including at least one rafter adapted receive thereon a natural mat in an anchoring arrangement wherein a weight of the natural mat is adapted to anchor the natural mat to the at least one rafter via the anchoring arrangement. A structure for a Jewish Sukkah, including an upper frame including two lengthwise sliding rails and at least one widthwise support; two wooden support beams; and a plurality of rafters wherein the rafters are adapted to be moved by the sliding rails while only being supported by the two wooden support beams.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An article of manufacture comprising:
 at least one rafter adapted receive thereon a natural mat in an anchoring arrangement wherein a weight of the natural mat is adapted to anchor the natural mat to the at least one rafter in addition to the anchoring arrangement.   
     
     
         2 . The article of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one rafter includes a plurality of rafters; and
 wherein the natural mat includes:
 a plurality of elongated pieces of natural, plant-based material, laid side-by-side, 
 coupling pieces at least bookending the plurality of elongated pieces, and 
 threads of natural fiber threaded between the elongated pieces and tied to the coupling pieces; 
   wherein each of the coupling pieces is adapted to be anchored to a respective rafter by the anchoring arrangement.   
     
     
         3 . The article of  claim 2 , wherein the anchoring arrangement includes:
 spaced apart protrusions disposed on a sky-facing surface of each rafter of the plurality of rafters, and   each coupling piece includes eyelets adapted to fit over the protrusions so as to anchor the natural mat to the rafters.   
     
     
         4 . The article of  claim 3 , wherein the eyelets are apertures formed in a surface of each coupling piece. 
     
     
         5 . The article of  claim 2 , wherein the anchoring arrangement includes:
 spaced apart grooves formed in a sky-facing surface of each rafter;   wherein each coupling piece is spaced apart from an adjacent elongated piece by a distance equal to a length of each of the grooves; and   wherein when anchored in the anchoring arrangement, the coupling piece is disposed on a first side of the rafter, the adjacent elongated piece is disposed on a second side of the rafter and the threads are disposed inside the grooves.   
     
     
         6 . The article of  claim 2 , wherein each of the plurality of rafters is slidably attached to two rails. 
     
     
         7 . The article of  claim 6 , wherein the two rails are adapted for sliding the rafters reversibly between an expanded state and a retracted state. 
     
     
         8 . The article of  claim 7 , wherein each rafter of the plurality of rafters is seated in two rafter hangers, one rafter hanger disposed on one end of the rafter and one rafter hanger disposed on a second end of the rafter, each rafter hanger coupled to one of the two rails. 
     
     
         9 . The article of  claim 8 , wherein each rafter hanger includes a U-shaped seat for receiving an edge of the rafter thereon. 
     
     
         10 . The article of  claim 9 , wherein each rafter hanger includes an attachment element for coupling the rafter hanger to a sliding piece disposed in the rail. 
     
     
         11 . The article of  claim 8 , wherein the two rails are adapted to be coupled to a ledger board attached to a wall or a support beam. 
     
     
         12 . The article of  claim 2 , wherein the elongated pieces are selected from the group of: slivers of bamboo, shoots of a plant, branches of a tree, and combinations thereof. 
     
     
         13 . The article of  claim 2 , wherein the threads of natural fiber are threaded in a direction transverse to the axes of the elongated pieces. 
     
     
         14 . The article of  claim 2 , wherein the natural mat is adapted to be anchored to the rafters by fastening the mat to the rafters. 
     
     
         15 . The article of  claim 2 , wherein the natural mat is adapted to be anchored to the rafters without fastening the mat to the rafters. 
     
     
         16 . The article of  claim 1 , wherein the anchoring arrangement includes:
 wherein the at least one rafter has a shelf cut into one side thereof,   a coupling piece adapted to fit into the shelf, and   wherein an edge of the natural mat is sandwiched between the shelf and the anchoring piece, and bound together with threads of natural fiber.   
     
     
         17 . A structure for a Jewish Sukkah, comprising:
 an upper frame including two lengthwise sliding rails and at least one widthwise support;   two wooden support beams;   a plurality of rafters wherein the rafters are adapted to be moved by the sliding rails while only being supported by the two wooden support beams.   
     
     
         18 . The structure of  claim 17 , wherein in each of the rafters a tongue protrudes from each end of the rafter,
 wherein each tongue is adapted to fit into a slot defined by a respective C-shaped wooden holder, and   wherein each C-shaped wooden holder is adapted to be seated in a respective rafter hanger, which is adapted to be coupled to the one rail of the two sliding rails,   wherein the rafters are adapted to be moved along the two sliding rails while being supported thereunder only by the two wooden support beams.   
     
     
         19 . The structure of  claim 18 , wherein the rafters are adapted to be moved manually or automatically along the sliding rails. 
     
     
         20 . The structure of  claim 18 , wherein the rafters are adapted with an anchoring arrangement for anchoring a natural mat thereto.