AU2007201039A1

AU2007201039A1 - Roller shutter assembly and method of installation

Info

Publication number: AU2007201039A1
Application number: AU2007201039A
Authority: AU
Inventors: John Charles Hodges; Timothy Mark White
Original assignee: JCBH Pty Ltd; TVW Pty Ltd
Current assignee: JCBH Pty Ltd; TVW Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2006-03-09
Filing date: 2007-03-09
Publication date: 2007-09-27

Description

P/00/011 Regulation 3.2

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 Cc,

ORIGINAL

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT Invention Title: "ROLLER SHUTTER ASSEMBLY AND METHOD OF INSTALLATION" The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me/us:

TITLE

ROLLER SHUTTER ASSEMBLY AND METHOD OF INSTALLATION FIELD OF THE INVENTION THIS INVENTION relates to a roller shutter as typically used in cabinets, cupboards and other storage enclosures.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Roller shutters are commonly used in openings of cabinets, cupboards, storage rooms, pantries, vanity units and other storage enclosures. Roller shutters provide ready access to the contents of storage enclosures such as described above and, when closed, neatly hide the stored contents within the storage enclosure.

Typically, a roller shutter comprises a roller mounted by way of brackets inside the door opening, onto which is mounted a shutter door, such as a tambour door comprising a plurality of slats, or any other door or screen that can be wound around the roller. As described in Australian patent 672562, a shutter support may be provided which is mounted to a bracket which also has locating zones that allow rearward placement of a winding roller at a desired vertical location in the cabinet.

A general problem with roller shutter assemblies is that mounting to a cabinet can be difficult and time-consuming even for experienced tradesmen.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention is therefore broadly directed to an improved roller shutter assembly and/or components thereof and/or a method of installing same that alleviates or ameliorates at least some of the difficulties associated with installation.

In one broad form, the invention is directed to a pelmet member and/or a pelmet assembly which, in contrast to the prior art, is mountable to a cabinet or other enclosure before mounting a roller shutter and shutter support.

A preferred advantage is that said pelmet assembly obviates the need to separately source the pelmet for installation with a roller shutter.

In another broad form, the invention is directed to a roller shutter mounting bracket which facilitates mounting of the aforementioned pelmet member and/or sequential mounting of a shutter support and winding roller.

2 In one aspect, the invention provides a pelmet member mountable along the top of a cabinet and comprising one or more arcuate guides to facilitate guiding of a shutter door into track guides adjacent respective side walls of said cabinet.

In another aspect, the invention provides a pelmet assembly for a roller shutter mountable to a cabinet, said pelmet assembly comprising: a first pelmet fascia, a second pelmet fascia and a third pelmet fascia; (ii) a first track guide and a second track guide; (iii) an elongate member; and (iv) one or more arcuate guides.

Suitably, in use said first track guide is mounted to said first pelmet fascia to form a first pelmet member and said second track guide is mounted to said second pelmet fascia to form a second pelmet member.

Preferably, said third pelmet member comprises said third pelmet fascia, said elongate member and said one or more arcuate guides.

In yet another aspect, the invention provides a method of installing a pelmet assembly to a cabinet for subsequent mounting of a roller shutter, said method including the step of mounting a plurality of pelmet members to said cabinet, at least two of which pelmet members each comprise a track guide which is operable to guide a shutter door of said roller shutter.

In a further aspect, the invention provides a mounting bracket for a shutter support and a winding roller, said mounting bracket comprising a first mounting bracket portion and a second mounting bracket portion, which in use co-operate to create a mounting aperture for said shutter support.

In another further aspect, the invention provides a method of installing a mounting bracket for a shutter support and a winding roller, said method including the step of mounting a first mounting bracket portion and a second mounting bracket portion to a cabinet to thereby create a mounting aperture for said shutter support.

In a still further aspect, the invention provides a mounting bracket for a shutter support and a winding roller, said mounting bracket comprising one or more positioning means to facilitate positioning of the pelmet member of the firstmentioned aspect.

In a preferred embodiment, said positioning means is a support ledge formed by a cutaway in a first mounting bracket portion to facilitate contact between said first mounting bracket portion and said pelmet member.

SSuitably, the mounting bracket of the aforementioned aspects further comprises one or more locating zones for mounting said winding roller.

Preferably, the mounting bracket of the aforementioned aspects further comprises a plurality of locating zones for mounting said winding roller.

In a still further aspect, the invention provides a roller shutter assembly comprising the pelmet assembly and at least one mounting bracket as hereinbefore described.

In one particular embodiment, the roller shutter assembly is in kit form, comprising two mounting brackets, first, second and third pelmet members, a shutter support and a winding roller having a shutter door coupled thereto.

In a preferred embodiment, the invention provides a method of installing a roller shutter assembly to a cabinet including the sequential steps of: mounting a first mounting bracket portion to the cabinet; (ii) mounting first and second pelmet members to side walls of said cabinet, which pelmet members respectively comprise a track member operable to guide a shutter door; (iii) mounting a second mounting bracket portion to the cabinet to thereby co-operate with said first mounting bracket portion to form a mounting bracket which comprises an aperture for mounting a shutter support; (iv) mounting said shutter support to the mounting bracket; and mounting a winding roller having a shutter door coupled thereto to the mounting bracket.

In a yet still further aspect, the invention provides a cabinet to which is mounted the mounting bracket, roller shutter assembly and/or pelmet assembly as hereinbefore described.

Throughout this specification, unless otherwise indicated, "comprise", "comprises" and "comprising" are used inclusively rather than exclusively, so that a stated integer or group of integers may include one or more other non-stated integers or groups of integers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present invention will now be described with reference to non-limiting embodiments disclosed in the accompanying drawings, wherein: FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cabinet to which a roller shutter assembly is to be mounted; FIG. 2 is a side view of a mounting bracket mounted to a side wall of a cabinet; FIG. 3 is perspective view of a pelmet member and first bracket portion; FIG. 4 is a perspective view of another pelmet member with track member prior to mounting to a cabinet; FIG. 5 is a front view of a plurality of pelmet members fitted to a cabinet; FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing mounting of a second bracket portion and a shutter support to a cabinet; and FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a mounted winding roller and shutter door fitted over a shutter support.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The preferred embodiment described herein is described with reference to a tambour door as a non-limiting example of a roller shutter. It will also be appreciated that while components of the roller shutter assembly will be referred to in singular terms for convenience, more than one such component may be present paired mounting brackets and mounting apertures, track members, screws and screw holes) as would be well understood by persons skilled in the art.

Referring to FIG. 1, cabinet 10 comprises opening 11, side walls 12A,12B that respectively have front faces 13A, 13B, base 14 and top 17 with underside 171. Alternatively, cabinet 10 may not comprise base 14, in which case cabinet is mounted to benchtop 14.

As shown in FIG. 2, mounting bracket 20 comprises first bracket portion 21 and second bracket portion 22. First and second bracket portions 21, 22 comprise respective mating portions 24, 25 that respectively comprise aperture segments 241, 251, that once assembled co-operate to form mounting aperture 26 that receives mounting spindle 31 of shutter support 30 (now shown). First bracket portion 21 further comprises a positioning means in the form of cutaways 28A, 28B.

Second bracket portion 22 comprises four locating zones 23 which facilitate mounting of shutter door 46 via winding roller 41 (not shown), as will be described in more detail hereinafter.

Initially, first bracket portion 21 and second bracket portion 22 are mounted to side wall 12A adjacent opening 11, each by way of screws 60 and screw holes 61. Suitably, first bracket portion 21 is mounted "flush" against underside 171 of cabinet top 17. Second bracket portion 22 is then temporarily removed.

With reference to both FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, ledge 291 of locating nub 29 on first bracket portion 21 abuts face 13A of sidewall 12A to assist positioning of first bracket portion 21 against face 13A of sidewall 12A. This ensures that the clearance indicated by the double-headed arrow in FIG. 3 is achieved.

Referring again to FIG. 3, pelmet member 50C comprises fascia 51C and elongate angled member 54 having vertex 55, in which are located arcuate guides 56A, 56B. Initially, pelmet member 50C is slid into position horizontally between top 17 of cabinet 10 and first bracket portion 21 without being screwed into place.

Angled member 54 is accommodated by a positioning means in the form of cutaways 28A, 28B of first bracket portion 21 to thereby provide a squared, flush mount between angled member 54 and first bracket portion 21. In this embodiment, cutaways 28A, 28B act to postion and support angled member 54.

Alternatively, the positioning means could be in the form of protusions or projections paired nubs) that abut fascia 51C. In such a case, angled member 54 would be positioned between and/or above these protrusions or projections. It will also be appreciated that only a single arcuate guide 56 may be provided. With this in mind, in one alternative embodiment, arcuate guide 56 may be integrally formed with angled member 54 as an arcuate surface located at vertex 55 of angled member 54. This arcuate surface could extend at least partly, or almost completely, along the length of angled member 54.

Referring now to FIG. 4, first pelmet member 50A comprises fascia 51A, and track guide 52A located within channel 53A of fascia 51A. Pelmet member is installed vertically onto front face 13A of side wall 12A by way screws and screw holes 61. It wil be appreciated that this arrangment is repeated for pelmet member 50B, which is not shown in FIG. 4.

Referring to FIG. 5, pelmet member 50C is "centred" so as to create approximately equal gaps or spaces 57A, 57B between pelmet members 50A, and pelmet member This arrangement whereby pelmet members 50A, 50B, 50C are fitted separately avoids the problem associated with prior art pelmets which are usually fitted as a single piece as a routered "U piece") and mounted to track guides fitted to the cabinet side walls. The present invention provides pelmet members and track members 52 as part of a roller shutter assembly to be fitted to cabinet and thereby obviates the need for producing a U piece pelmet as a separate item for mounting to the cabinet via the track members 52.

This also provides an advantage in that any of a number of different timber fascias 51 may be fitted to track members 52 (i.e in terms of timber type, style and/or finish), thereby increasing the aesthetic flexibility of the pelmet assembly.

Pelmet members 50A, 50B, 50C are fitted before mounting shutter support 30, shutter door 46 and winding roller 41, as shown in FIG. 6 and FIG. 7.

Second bracket portion 22 and shutter support 30 are fitted to cabinet Second bracket portion 22 is mounted to wall 12A by way of screws 60 and screw holes 61, essentially as shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 6, so that aperture segments 241, 251 of respective mating portions 24, 25 of first and second bracket portions 21, 22 cooperate to form aperture 26 that receives and holds mounting spindle 31 which is mounted to body 32 of shutter support Although not shown in FIG. 6, shutter support 30 may further comprise one or more silencing rings located on body 32 to reduce noise with shutter door 46. In this preferred embodiment, shutter support 30 is a roller but could alternatively be in the form of a spindle, rod or mandrel.

Referring to FIG. 7, roller shutter 40 comprises winding roller 41 to which is coupled shutter door 46. Also with reference to FIG. 2, mounting spindle 42 of winding roller 41 is fitted into one of plurality of locating zones 23, so that winding roller 41 and shutter door 46 are mounted rearwardly of shutter support 30. To facilitate mounting to bracket 20, shutter door 46 is initially wound onto winding roller 41. In this embodiment, shutter door 46 is a tambour door comprising a plurality of horizontal timber slats, but can be any other door or screen that can be wound around the roller. Typically, shutter door 46 comprises handle (not shown) mounted to back plate 44 to facilitate operation by a user.

Shutter door 46 is partly unwound from winding roller 41 over shutter support 30 so that edges 43 fit into track members 52 (not shown). Arcuate guides 56A, 56B of pelmet member 50 C (shown in FIG. 3) facilitate guiding of edges 43 of shutter door 46 into track members 52 (not shown; see FIG. This guiding function is also useful after assembly should shutter door 46 be accidentally wound back and out of engagement with track members 52.

Also with reference to FIG. 3, arcuate guides 56A, 56B can act to minimize damage to shutter door 46 caused by contact with elongate angled member 54 or, more particularly, contact with a screw or other fixing device that may be used to fix pelmet member 50C to top 17 of cabinet One or more ramps 45 may be mounted to winding roller 41, such as described in Australian Innovation Patent 2003100293, which ramps prevent bumping of shutter door 46 when it winds onto winding roller 41.

It will be appreciated from the foregoing that the sequential mounting of bracket members 21 and 22 facilitates sequential mounting of shutter support and winding roller 41 in a much easier manner than according to the prior art.

where the shutter support was mounted together with the bracket.

The invention therefore provides an improved roller shutter assembly that alleviates or ameliorates at least some of the difficulties associated with installation.

One advantage is that said pelmet assembly obviates the need to separately source the pelmet for installation with a roller shutter.

Furthermore, the arcuate guides assist guiding the shutter door into track guides and minimize the risk of damaging the shutter door.

Another advantage is that the two-part mounting bracket allows sequential mounting of the shutter support and winding roller after the pelmet assembly has been installed.

The pelmet assembly also provides more design options by allowing different styles and/or finishes of pelmet fascia to be provided.

Overall, the mounting bracket, pelmet members and method of installing same simplify roller shutter mounting and assembly thereby decrease the amount of time spent installing the roller shutter.

Throughout this specification, the aim has been to describe the preferred embodiments of the invention without limiting the invention to any one 8 embodiment or specific collection of features. Various changes and modifications may be made to the embodiments described and illustrated herein without departing from the broad spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims

2. The pelmet member of Claim 1, further comprising an elongate member.
3. The pelmet member of Claim 2, wherein the one or more arcuate guides are mounted to the elongate member.
4. A pelmet assembly for a roller shutter mountable to a cabinet, said pelmet assembly comprising: a first pelmet fascia, a second pelmet fascia and a third pelmet N, fascia; (ii) a first track guide and a second track guide; (vi) an elongate member; and (vii) one or more arcuate guides; whereby in use said first track guide is mounted to said first pelmet fascia to form a first pelmet member, said second track guide is mounted to said second pelmet fascia to form a second pelmet member, said third pelmet member comprising said third pelmet fascia, said elongate member and one or more arcuate guides.
5. The pelmet assembly of Claim 4, wherein the one or more arcuate guides are mounted to the elongate member.
6. The pelmet assembly of Claim 5, whereby in use said first pelmet member and said second pelmet member are mounted vertically to respective sidewalls of said cabinet, said third pelmet member mounted horizontally along the top of said cabinet between said first pelmet member and said second pelmet member, said one or more arcuate guides facilitating guiding of a shutter door into said respective track guides.
7. A mounting bracket for a roller shutter that comprises a winding roller and a shutter support, said mounting bracket comprising a first body portion and a second body portion which respectively comprise aperture segments that co- operate to form a mounting aperture for said shutter support.
8. The mounting bracket of Claim 7, wherein said second body portion comprises one or more locating zones for mounting said winding roller.
9. The mounting bracket of Claim 8, wherein said first body portion further comprises a positioning means to assist positioning of an elongate member of a pelmet member mounted horizontally along the top of said cabinet. A mounting bracket for a roller shutter that comprises a winding roller and a shutter support, said mounting bracket comprising a positioning means to assist positioning of an elongate member of a pelmet member mounted horizontally along the top of said cabinet.
11. The mounting bracket of Claim 10, comprising a first body portion and a second body portion, said first body portion comprising said positioning means.
12. The mounting bracket of Claim 11, wherein said first body portion and said second body portion respectively comprise aperture segments that co-operate to form a mounting aperture for said shutter support.
13. The mounting bracket of Claim 12, wherein said second body portion comprises one or more locating zones for mounting said winding roller.
14. A roller shutter assembly comprising the pelmet assembly of Claim 5 and the mounting bracket of Claim 7 or Claim The roller shutter assembly of Claim 14, further comprising a winding roller and a shutter support.
16. A cabinet comprising the roller shutter assembly of Claim 15 mounted thereto.
17. A method of installing a mounting bracket for subsequent mounting of a shutter support and winding roller, said method including the step of mounting a first mounting bracket portion and a second mounting bracket portion to a cabinet to thereby create a mounting aperture for a mounting said shutter support.
18. A method of installing a roller shutter assembly to a cabinet including the sequential steps of: mounting a first mounting bracket portion to the cabinet; (ii) mounting first and second pelmet members to side walls of said cabinet, which pelmet members respectively comprise a track member operable to guide a shutter door; (iii) mounting a second mounting bracket portion to the cabinet to thereby co-operate with said first mounting bracket portion to form a mounting bracket which comprises an aperture for mounting a shutter support; (iv) mounting said shutter support to the mounting bracket; and mounting a winding roller having a shutter door coupled thereto to the mounting bracket.
19. A pelmet assembly substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings. A mounting bracket assembly substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.
21. A roller shutter assembly substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.
22. A cabinet to which is mounted the roller shutter assembly of Claim 21, substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.
23. A method of installing a roller shutter assembly substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.
24. A method of installing a mounting bracket substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings. DATED this ninth day of March 2007 JCBH PTY LTD and TVW PTY LTD by their Patent Attorneys FISHER ADAMS KELLY