AU2015404937B2

AU2015404937B2 - Device and method for controlling an opening with pivoting slats

Info

Publication number: AU2015404937B2
Application number: AU2015404937A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Patrick Lahbib; Cédric Roz
Original assignee: Hydro Extruded Solutions AS
Current assignee: Hydro Extruded Solutions AS
Priority date: 2015-07-31
Filing date: 2015-07-31
Publication date: 2021-08-12
Anticipated expiration: 2035-07-31
Also published as: AU2015404937A1; WO2017020945A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a device for controlling the opening and closing of a Venetian blind comprising adjacent pivoting slats (8), said device comprising: a. a control member capable of supplying a driving force; b. a plurality of receiving housings (14), each receiving housing being allocated for the rotary movement of one slat and comprising: bi a toothed sector (30) rotatably connected to said slat; bii. a worm gear (26) capable of driving said toothed sector; and biii. rotational coupling means at each end of the worm gear; c. means for transmitting movement between the control member and the first of the plurality of housings; and d. drive means between the coupling ends of each of the plurality of housings.

Description

DEVICE AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING AN OPENING WITH PIVOTING SLATS

Technical Field The invention relates to a device and a method for controlling an opening with pivoting slats. The invention is designed more particularly but not exclusively for controlling a Venetian blind or louvered shutters with orientable slats, i.e. a window or a shutter formed by parallel slats which pivot about an axis which is parallel to their largest dimension and which is generally horizontal, and which are adjacent to one another so as to screen a substantially vertical plane. The invention relates, however, to the screening of a horizontal plane or to the screening of a vertical plane by slats pivoting about a vertical axis, for example.

Background Art The rotation of the slats about their axis permits the surface screened by said slats to be modified. Thus, when the slats are oriented so that their widest face is parallel to the screened plane, the surface which is covered substantially corresponds to the entire surface of said plane, whilst when said slats are pivoted by 90° relative to this last position, such that their edge is parallel to the screened plane, the covered surface is minimal. According to various embodiments, the slats are arranged on the roof parallel to one another or overlap each other, i.e. with the edges of each slat being covered by the slat which is adjacent thereto. The orientation of the slats is controlled by a mechanical or electromechanical device comprising, according to various embodiments, systems using connecting rods and links, a rack and pinion, a worm gear or even chains or belts, acting on the pivot at one or at both ends of each slat. Thus, there is a wide variety of mechanisms for controlling the orientable slats. According to the type of application, for example, for the screening of a window or for the screening of a roof, the angular deflection of the slats is in the order of or greater than 90°. When the control for opening and closing the slats is manual, this is most frequently carried out by means of a linkage comprising a system of connecting rods which transmits and transforms the translation movement transmitted to the control member into a rotation of the slats. According to this device, all of the slats are pivoted at the same time at an angle which is substantially equal. The blocking of one slat blocks the entire mechanism and the direct action on a slat, for example by forcing the pivoting thereof, affects all of the slats. Thus, by its construction, this mechanism of the prior art avoids any kinematic interference between the slats during their movement. On the other hand, since such a mechanism has hard points corresponding to changes in the orientation of the small connecting rods, this makes it difficult to be able to hold the slats in a given position, apart from the extreme positions, without maintaining a force on the means for maneuvering and even in the extreme closed position this does not permit a closing pressure to be maintained between the slats so as, for example, to ensure the seal of this closure. The control systems using belts or chains have the same type of drawback. In the case of a device for controlling the slats by a worm gear, said worm gear acting on a toothed sector connected to each slat, due to the irreversibility of the transmission this enables a stable configuration of the slats to be obtained in all positions between the extreme positions and thus, in particular, to impose and then to maintain a closing pressure between the slats without having to exert a permanent driving force on the maneuvering means. In contrast, such a mechanism is difficult to control, particularly in the presence of a large number of slats and difficult to maintain. Moreover, such a mechanism has a risk of forcing. Thus, if a slat is blocked in its movement, the device continues to act thereon and onto the other slats which may lead to damage. To this end, torque limiters are installed on the control members, either by limiting the power of the motor, for example by controlling the strength of its electrical supply, or by installing a friction clutch between the manual control and the worm gear. However, the capacity of a worm gear transmission does not enable a partial blockage to be detected by such a device so that said device only constitutes a final safety measure. Further mechanisms known from the prior art use a plurality of motors, each motor controlling a slat or a pair of slats. Apart from the cost of such a device, this requires the perfect synchronization of the motors.

Summary

The present disclosure relates to a device for controlling the opening and the closing of a Venetian blind comprising adjacent pivoting slats, said device comprising: a. a control member capable of supplying a driving force; b. a plurality of receiving boxes, each receiving box being allocated for the rotary movement of one slat and comprising; bi. a sector gear rotatably connected to said slat; bii. a worm gear capable of driving said sector gear; biii. rotational coupling means at each end of the worm gear; c. means for transmitting movement between the control member and the first of the plurality of receiving boxes; d. drive means between the coupling ends of each of the plurality of receiving boxes; wherein the drive means comprise a resilient coupling between two receiving boxes, which is capable of absorbing an angular torsional deformation which is reversible between its ends, whilst transmitting a constant torque between said ends. Thus, the worm gear transmission and the transmission of the same driving movement to all of the receiving boxes enable all of the slats of the Venetian blind to be displaced together and without interference into accurate and stable positions, whatever the angular positions of said slats. The resilient coupling on the drive means, allows to absorb the angular offset of the displacement between two slats in the case of a blockage and until the safety means of the driving member are triggered, without impairing the control mechanisms or said slats. Since the coupling is resilient and reversible, this offset is automatically absorbed as soon as the source of this offset disappears, either of its own or after an intervention, in many cases without the user even noticing a problem. The invention is advantageously implemented according to the embodiments and variants set forth hereinafter, which are to be considered individually or according to any technically expedient combination. According to one embodiment, a receiving box of the device which is the subject of the invention comprises: biv. means for clearance compensation between the sector gear and the worm gear. Thus the slats are positioned according to a precise angle whatever the direction of displacement, opening or closing, in which this angle is applied. Advantageously, the device of the invention comprises: e. a control center of the control member comprising: ei. memory means; eii. acquisition means; eiii. calculating means; eiv. a control interface for controlling the control member. The high level of operating safety of the device as the subject of the invention is thus utilized for automating the operation thereof. According to one implementation of this embodiment of the device as the subject of the invention: - the control member comprises means for measuring the drive power, the signal thereof being directed toward the acquisition means of the control center; - the resilient coupling means comprise means for measuring their resilient deformation, the signal thereof being directed toward the acquisition means of the control center. Thus, the automation of the operation takes into account the forces on the slats and, in particular but not exclusively, the closing pressure thereof, this pressure being measured and controlled in the vicinity of the slat by means of the instrumented coupling means. According to one embodiment which is compatible with the previous embodiment, the device of the invention comprises: - a climatic sensor, namely a temperature sensor, an anemometer, an air humidity sensor, a light sensor. Thus, the operation of said device is automated or partially automated as a function of said climatic information. The invention further relates to a method for implementing a device according to the invention, said method comprising the steps, consisting in: i. controlling the control member to obtain the closure of the slats; ii. measuring the power consumed by the control member motor and the deformation of the resilient coupling means and determining the closing pressure by the calculating means; iii. continuing the steps i) and ii) until a closing pressure which is recorded in the memory is reached. Thus, by combining the measures, the method of the invention makes it possible to discriminate a blockage from a closing pressure to be achieved. The invention further relates to the implementation of a device according to the invention, comprising the steps, consisting in: iv. measuring the temperature and the air humidity and deducing therefrom, by comparison with the information stored in the memory, the probability of an icing; v. controlling the control member to obtain the opening of the slats; vi. measuring the power consumed by the motor of the control member and the deformation of the resilient coupling means for determining by the calculating means the resistance to opening; vii. if step iv) indicates the probability of an icing and the measures implemented in step vi) indicate that the slats are stuck together, triggering an appropriate control cycle to obtain the de-icing. Thus, the method as the subject of the invention advantageously uses the combination of climatic information and information relative to the forces in the kinematic chain to discriminate particular solutions to a blocking duing the opening procedure.

Brief Description of the Drawings The invention is described hereinafter according to preferred embodiments, which are not limiting in any way, and with reference to figures 1 to 9, in which: - figure 1 is a perspective view of an example of a Venetian blind adapted to the implementation of a device according to the invention; - figure 2 is a view similar to figure 1 but without a profile so as to reveal the internal elements of a control system of said Venetian blind;

- figure 3 shows a detail of figure 2; - figure 4 shows in enlarged scale an example of a receiving box adapted to a device according to the invention; - figure 5 is a front view showing the interior of the receiving box of figure 4; - figure 6 is a detailed view from above of a first means for mounting a receiving box; - figure 7 is a detailed view from above of a second means for mounting a receiving box; - figure 8 is a side view illustrating the coupling means enabling the connection of a plurality of receiving boxes, elements having been concealed for improved comprehension; - and figure 9 shows schematically an embodiment of a resilient coupling between two receiving boxes.

Detailed Description In figures 1 and 2, according to one embodiment, a Venetian blind comprises a lower crosspiece (4), an upper crosspiece (6) and slats (8) pivotably mounted between the lateral uprights (2). The slats (8) are illustrated in the same intermediate position between a so-called closed position in which all of the slats (8) are substantially coplanar and a so-called open position in which all of the slats (8) are pivoted by approximately 90° relative to the closed position. According to this embodiment, each lateral upright (2) comprises a U-shaped profile (10) and a cover (12) designed to close said profile (10) by connecting the free ends of the flanges of the U-shape profile. In figure 2 the U-shaped profile (10) has not been illustrated, in order to reveal the control device of the slats (8) for the passage of these slats from the open position into the closed position, or vice versa. A device, called the receiving box (14), is mounted at one end of each slat (8). Drive means connect the receiving boxes (14) to be connected. These means are, for example, driven by a motor (not shown) placed in a crosspiece or in a lateral upright. In figure 4 a receiving box (14) comprises an external envelope and elements arranged entirely or partially inside said external envelope. According to one embodiment, said envelope comprises two half-shells assembled by screws (not shown) and a fixing clip (16). The overall shape of the external envelope is parallelepipedal with two principal lateral faces. A first half-shell carries a first lateral face (18) whilst a second half-shell carries a second lateral face (20) which extends parallel to the first lateral face (18) and which is substantially symmetrical thereto. A worm gear (26) is arranged in the receiving box (14). According to one embodiment, said worm gear (26) has a tubular shape with a bore (38) of square section passing through the worm gear along its axis of rotation. Thus, according to this embodiment, said bore (38) constitutes means for coupling at each end of said worm gear (26). On its external face, the worm gear (26) has a threaded portion in its central part and bearings at its two ends. The external envelope of the receiving box (14) is shaped so that the wall of said envelope forms two bearings to receive the ends of said worm gear (26) to provide the guidance thereof in rotation. In figure 5 a transverse axle (28) traverses both the first lateral face (18) and the second lateral face (20). This transverse axle (28) is fixed to a sector gear (30) in engagement with the worm gear (26). Said sector gear (30) extends at an angle along a sector corresponding substantially to the path of a slat (8) in rotation between the open position and the closed position. Said transverse axle (28) is connected to a cam (32) brought to bear against a telescopic arm (34). Said telescopic arm (34) is pivotably mounted at its other end about an axis (36). A spring (not shown), for example a helical spring, is mounted about the arm (34) which thus exerts a resilient returning force on the transverse axle (28) by means of the cam (32), and forces the contact on one side of the teeth of the sector gear (30) onto the threads of the worm gear (26). Thus, the combination of the cam (32) and the arm (34) constitutes a device of clearance compensation, the teeth always being in contact on the same side thereof with the worm gear whatever the direction of rotation of said worm gear. Each end of the transverse axle (28) projecting beyond the external envelope of the receiving box (14) comprises a caliper inscribed in a circular cylinder and having three internal faces: a planar base (40) and two lateral flanges (42), which are also planar, and extending perpendicular to the base (40).

The end of each transverse axle (28) is thus designed to cooperate with a drive element (46) placed in the caliper formed at the corresponding end, the other end of said drive element being connected to a slat (8). Figures 6 and 7 show two examples of mounting a receiving box (14) in the profile (10). In figure 6 the receiving box (14) is positioned against a wall of the profile (10) located on the side of the slats (8). To this end, said profile (10) has on this wall a first longitudinal groove (52) designed to cooperate with the corresponding first groove (22) of the receiving box (14) and a second groove (54) designed to cooperate with the corresponding second groove (24) of the receiving box (14). In figure 7, according to a variant, the receiving boxes (14) are not mounted on the wall of the profile (10) located on the side of the slats (8) but on the opposing wall. According to this configuration, the first groove (52) and the second groove (54) of the profile (10) are located on this same wall. In this configuration, the length of the drive element (46) is adapted. In figure 8, according to this embodiment, spacers (62) are arranged between a lower receiving box (14) and the collar (60) of a first rod (58), and more specifically between the worm gear (26) of the lower receiving box (14) and the aforementioned collar (60). When the spacer (62) is in position, all of the rods (58) are positioned. Advantageously, said spacer (62) constitutes a means of resilient coupling between two receiving boxes (14). In figure 9, according to one embodiment, said spacers consist of resilient plates (620) assembled by screwing or any other appropriate means to the faces of the rods (58) connecting two receiving boxes. The section and the material constituting said plates (620) are selected so as to confer a specific stiffness to this resilient connection. All of the spacers connecting the receiving boxes within the same Venetian blind do not necessarily constitute resilient connections. According to this embodiment, the resilient coupling connection produced by the resilient plates (620) connects a lower receiving box (14a) and an upper receiving box (14b). According to this embodiment, the control members transmit their power from the lower receiving box (14a) to the upper receiving box (14b).

Thus, the torque transmitted from one receiving box to the other passes via said resilient plates (620). Departing from an open position of the slats of the Venetian blind, by controlling the closure of said slats, if the upper slat controlled by the upper receiving box (14b) is decelerated in its closure, for example by the presence of a foreign body, the slat controlled by the lower receiving box (14a) continues on its closing trajectory, the angular offset between the Venetian blind slats being absorbed by the resilient coupling connection. Thus, the Venetian blind slat controlled by the upper receiving box(14b) and all of the slats located above said slat are decelerated in their progression and the presence of this resilient coupling connection enables kinematic offsets to be compensated between the Venetian blind slats. According to further embodiments, the resilient coupling connection between the receiving boxes comprises elements such as a visco-elastic coupling permitting a reaction torque profile to be defined as a function of the angular offset or the relative speed of displacement. Advantageously, the resilient coupling means between the receiving boxes comprise measuring means (not shown) of the angular offset between two receiving housings connected by said means. Thus, by comparing the angular offset measured on the different resilient coupling means distributed over the kinematic chain of the device of the invention, with the torque transmitted by the control members, a diagnosis of the situation of the Venetian blind is made during its maneuver. To this end, the device as the subject of the invention comprises a central control comprising computing means capable of receiving input signals from the various sensors so as to establish such a diagnosis and to associate therewith the opening or closing scenarios of the Venetian blind slats adapted to the situation. According to one embodiment, the resilient coupling means between two receiving boxes comprise so-called torsional fuse means which cease to transmit the driving torque when said driving torque exceeds a given value, so as to limit the risks of damage to the mechanism. According to one embodiment, said control center also receives input information from climatic sensors which permit the position of the slats of the

Venetian blind to be controlled as a function of this information in order to ensure optimal ventilation of the premises or even to save energy. According to one embodiment, this so-called climatic information is combined with operating information from the control device, in particular information regarding the driving torque, to determine the opening or closing scenarios adapted to the slats of the Venetian blind. Thus, when the Venetian blind is closed, it may arise that the slats are stuck together by ice. The motor is generally sufficiently powerful to permit the opening of said slats but in such circumstances this opening is capable of damaging the covering of the slats or the sealing means arranged therebetween. Thus, by controlling the deformation of the resilient coupling means and obtaining information about the temperature, the control center is able to detect the possibility of an icing, even if said control center only intervenes between two slats of the Venetian blind, whilst a simple control of the driving torque of the control members would not permit such a detection. The above description and the embodiments show that the invention achieves the aimed objective. Thus, the device of the invention enables a kinematic synchronization of the slats of the Venetian blind which is provided with said slats to be obtained, whilst permitting a certain kinematic flexibility between the slats or groups of slats and an accurate and stable positioning of the slats, in any angular position. It is to be understood that, if any prior art publication is referred to herein, such reference does not constitute an admission that the publication forms a part of the common general knowledge in the art, in Australia or any other country. In the claims which follow and in the preceding description of the invention, except where the context requires otherwise due to express language or necessary implication, the word "comprise" or variations such as "comprises" or "comprising" is used in an inclusive sense, i.e. to specify the presence of the stated features but not to preclude the presence or addition of further features in various embodiments of the invention.

Claims

1. A device for controlling the opening and the closing of a Venetian blind comprising adjacent pivoting slats, said device comprising: a. a control member capable of supplying a driving torque; b. a plurality of receiving boxes, each receiving box being allocated for the rotary movement of one slat and comprising: bi. a sector gear rotatably connected to said slat; bii. a worm gear capable of driving said sector gear; biii. rotational coupling means at each end of the worm gear; c. means for transmitting movement between the control member and the first of the plurality of receiving boxes; d. the ends of the worm gear of each pair of receiving boxes of the plurality wherein a pair of receiving boxes comprises a lower receiving box and an upper receiving box, are connected by a rod; wherein each rod connecting a pair of receiving boxes of the plurality comprises means of resilient coupling between the lower receiving box and the upper receiving box of each pair, the means of resilient coupling being capable of absorbing an angular torsional deformation which is reversible between the ends of the worm gears of each receiving box connected by the rod, whilst transmitting a constant torque between said ends.

2. The device according to claim 1, wherein each receiving box comprises: biv. means of clearance compensation between the sector gear and the worm gear.

3. The device according to claim 1, comprising: e. a control center of the control member comprising: ei. memory means; eii. acquisition means; eiii. calculating means; eiv. a control interface for controlling the control member.

4. The device according to claim 3, wherein: - the control member comprises means for measuring the driving torque; - each resilient coupling means between two receiving boxes comprises means for measuring the angular offset between the two receiving boxes connected by said coupling means.

5. The device according to claim 3, comprising a climatic sensor.

6. A method for using a device according to claim 4, comprising the steps consisting in: i. controlling the control member to obtain the closure of the slats; ii. measuring the driving torque supplied by the control member and the angular offset between the receiving boxes connected by the rods comprising the resilient coupling means and determining the closing pressure by the calculating means; iii. continuing the steps i) and ii) until a closing pressure which is recorded in the memory means is reached.

7. A method for using a device according to claims 4 and 5, comprising the steps consisting in: iv. measuring the temperature; v. controlling the control member to obtain the opening of the slats; vi. measuring the driving torque supplied by the control member and the angular offset between the receiving boxes connected by the rods comprising the resilient coupling; vii. detect the possibility of an icing from the measures of step iv) and step vi).