AU2016228180B1

AU2016228180B1 - Double-drum type curtain drum module

Info

Publication number: AU2016228180B1
Application number: AU2016228180A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Cheng-Ming Wu; Wen-Yu Wu
Original assignee: Bao Song Precision Industry Co Ltd
Current assignee: BAO SONG PRECISION INDUSTRY Co Ltd
Priority date: 2016-06-30
Filing date: 2016-09-13
Publication date: 2016-12-08
Anticipated expiration: 2036-09-13
Also published as: US20180000273A1; TWM531983U

Abstract

2 Disclosed is a double-drum type curtain drum module, comprising a shell base 3 having two compartments, a first guide wheel, a second guide wheel, an auxiliary cord 4 rotator installed in a first compartment, and two cord drums installed in a second 5 compartment. At least two reinforcing bars in parallel are formed in the first compartment. 6 A plurality of first wheel-connecting grooves are formed on the reinforcing bars for 7 installing the first guide wheel. The second compartment has a plurality of second 8 wheel-connecting grooves formed on a bottom surface of the shell base for installing the 9 second guide wheel. A connecting channel is formed between the reinforcing bars and 10 exposed from the bottom surface of the shell base. The connecting channel extends into 11 the second compartment for coupling the first wheel-connecting grooves and the second wheel-connecting grooves. A control cord reset opening is formed from the first guide wheel to a first end of the connecting channel to align between the curtain auxiliary cord access holes. A control cord transferred opening is formed from the second guide wheel to a second end of the connecting channel. Accordingly, what is solved is the rubbing issue of conventional control cord against the topmost curtain sunshade blade caused by conventional control cord being oblique to the curtain auxiliary cords adjacent to the control cord access holes.

Description

2016228180 13 Sep 2016

DOUBLE-DRUM TYPE CURTAIN DRUM MODULE 1

2 FIELD OF THE INVENTION 3 The present invention relates to curtain components and more specifically to a 4 double-drum type curtain drum module to be implemented in a blind or a hinged screen 5 with sunshade blades.

6 BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 7 Curtains are installed inside a building to achieve sunshade or internal-shielding. 8 Curtains primarily classifies into two major groups, hinged screens and retractable 9 curtains. The hinged screens further subdivide into Venetian blinds, Roman shades, 10 Cellular Shades, roller blinds, zebra shades, etc. The hinged screen with sunshade 11 blades furls and curls the curtain control cord to change the sunshade area by adjusting 12 the raising/ lowering of the screens. And the pull of the curtain auxiliary cord is utilized 13 to adjust the tilting angle of the sunshade blades so that the shading ratio is changed. 14 Conventional curtain control components installed inside the transverse grooved rail 15 includes a force-return component and a drum assembly. The curtain control cord is 16 furled on the drum of the drum assembly. The curtain auxiliary cord is fixed at the 17 curtain auxiliary cord rotator in the drum assembly. 18 In the conventional drum assembly, a control cord access hole and two curtain 19 auxiliary cord access holes are disposed at the bottom of the shell base. The dram and 20 the curtain auxiliary cord rotator are installed in intervals and the control cord access hole 21 is relatively away from the area between the curtain auxiliary cord access holes to avoid 22 cord curling. However, the force exerted by the control cord near the control cord 23 access hole is oblique to the curtain auxiliary cord leading to rubbing against the 24 uppermost sunshade blades in the said conventional drum assemblies. Moreover, the 25 control cord is outwardly exposed to affect overall appearance. Furthermore, when the 26 position of the curtain auxiliary cord rotator is installed too high, the installation of the 27 curtain may be impacted. The fixing element of a curtain must partially cover the 1 2016228180 13 Sep 2016 1 curtain transverse grooved rail. When the auxiliary cord rotator is over-protruded, the 2 fixing element may not cover the drum assemblies leading to inconvenient installing 3 locations for curtains.

4 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 5 The main purpose of the present invention is to provide a double-drum type curtain 6 drum module to modularize curtain control components, to resolve the issue of rubbing 7 against the uppermost sunshade blades due to the force exerted by the control cord near 8 the control cord access hole being oblique to the curtain auxiliary cord and to provide 9 more freedom in the location selection of curtain installation. 10 The second purpose of the present invention is to provide a double-drum type 11 curtain drum module to pass two control cords through one control cord reset opening to 12 increase weight-lifting capability of the control cord and to avoid cord curling of the 13 control cord during raising/ lowering of the curtain. 14 According to the present invention, a double-drum type curtain drum module is 15 disclosed comprising a shell base, a first guide wheel, a second guide wheel, an auxiliary 16 cord rotator, a first cord drum and a second cord drum. The shell base is configured for 17 installing inside a curtain fixing grooved rail. The shell base has a first compartment 18 and a second compartment. The first compartment has at least two first reinforcing bars 19 arranged in parallel. A plurality of first wheel-connecting grooves are formed on the 20 first reinforcing bars. The second compartment has a plurality of second 21 wheel-connecting grooves formed on a bottom surface of the shell base. A connecting 22 channel is formed between the first reinforcing bars and exposed from the bottom surface 23 of the shell base. The connecting channel extends into the second compartment so that 24 the first wheel-connecting grooves and the second wheel-connecting grooves are formed 25 in the connecting channel. The first compartment further has at least two auxiliary cord 26 access holes at the bottom surface of the shell base. A plurality of first shaft ends of the 27 first guide wheel are installed inside the first wheel-connecting grooves. A control cord 2 2016228180 13 Sep 2016 1 reset opening is formed from the first guide wheel to a first end of the connecting channel 2 and located in the first compartment. The control cord reset opening is aligned between 3 the auxiliary cord access holes. A plurality of second shaft ends of the second guide 4 wheel are installed inside the second wheel-connecting grooves. A control cord 5 transferred opening is formed from the second guide wheel to a second end of the 6 connecting channel and located in the second compartment. A first vertical distance 7 between the first guide wheel and the bottom surface of the shell base is greater than a 8 second vertical distance between the second guide wheel and the bottom surface of the 9 shell base. The auxiliary cord rotator is installed inside the first compartment for 10 driving an auxiliary cord. The first cord drum and the second cord drum are installed 11 inside the second compartment and are interlocked to each other to furl and curl a first 12 control cord and a second control cord respectively. A first driving shaft joint hole is 13 formed through a first axial line of the first cord drum. 14 Therefore, the double-drum type curtain drum module discloses by the present 15 invention is one of the module kits of curtain control components. When the 16 double-drum type curtain drum module is installed with a force-return braking module, a 17 power module, etc. inside the transverse curtain fixing grooved rail, two high and low 18 wheel-connecting grooves installed inside the corresponding compartments are coupled 19 by the connecting channel to form the vertically corresponding control cord reset opening 20 under the auxiliary cord rotator. The control cord reset opening is aligned between the 21 auxiliary cord access holes to resolve the issue of rubbing against the uppermost 22 sunshade blades due to the force exerted by the control cord near the control cord access 23 hole being oblique to the curtain auxiliary cord and to provide more freedom in the 24 location selection of curtain installation.

25 DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 26 FIG. 1 is a three-dimensional assembly view of a double-drum type curtain drum 27 module according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention. 3 2016228180 13 Sep 2016 1 FIG. 2 is a three-dimensional component exploded view of the double-drum type 2 curtain drum module according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention. 3 FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the bottom surface of the double-drum type curtain drum 4 module according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention. 5 FIG. 4 is a three-dimensional assembly view of the double-drum type curtain drum 6 module during the installations of two control cords and an auxiliary cord according to 7 the preferred embodiment of the present invention. 8 FIG. 5 is a three-dimensional assembly view of the double-drum type curtain drum 9 module after the installations of the control cords and the auxiliary cord according to the 10 preferred embodiment of the present invention. 11 FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the double-drum type curtain drum module along 12 the section line 6-6 in FIG. 5 according to the preferred embodiment of the present 13 invention. 14 FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the double-drum type curtain drum module along 15 the section line 7-7 in FIG. 5 according to the preferred embodiment of the present 16 invention.

17 DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 18 With reference to the attached drawings, the present invention is described by means 19 of the embodiment(s) below where the attached drawings are simplified for illustration 20 purposes only to illustrate the structures or methods of the present invention by 21 describing the relationships between the components and assembly in the present 22 invention. Therefore, the components shown in the figures are not expressed with the 23 actual numbers, actual shapes, actual dimensions, nor with the actual ratio. Some of the 24 dimensions or dimension ratios have been enlarged or simplified to provide a better 25 illustration. The actual numbers, actual shapes, or actual dimension ratios may be 26 selectively designed and disposed and the detail component layouts may be more 27 complicated. 4 2016228180 13 Sep 2016 1 According to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, a double-drum type 2 curtain drum module 100 is illustrated in FIG. 1 for a three-dimensional assembly view, 3 in FIG. 2 for a three-dimensional component exploded view, and in FIG. 3 for a bottom 4 view. FIG. 4 illustrates for a three-dimensional assembly view during the installation of 5 two control cords 220, 230 and an auxiliary cord 210. FIG. 5 illustrates a 6 three-dimensional assembly view of the double-drum type curtain drum module 100 after 7 the installation of the control cords 220, 230 and the auxiliary cord 210. FIG. 6 8 illustrates a cross-sectional view of the double-drum type curtain drum module 100 along 9 the section line 6-6 in FIG. 5. FIG. 7 illustrates a cross-sectional view of the 10 double-drum type curtain drum module 100 along the section line 7-7 in FIG. 5. The 11 double-drum type curtain drum module 100 comprises a shell base 110, a first guide 12 wheel 120, a second guide wheel 130, an auxiliary cord rotator 140, a first cord dram 150 13 and a second cord drum 160. 14 Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, the shell base 110 is configured for installing inside a 15 curtain fixed grooved rail which is a top connecting beam of a blind. The shell base 110 16 has a first compartment 111 and a second compartment 112. The first compartment 111 17 is configured to install the auxiliary cord rotator 140 and to prevent the interference 18 between two extending portions of the auxiliary cord 210. The second compartment 19 112 is configured to install the first cord drum 150 and the second cord drum 160. 20 Normally the internal space of the first compartment 111 is taller but smaller than the 21 internal space of the second compartment 112. Preferably, a plurality of alignment 22 notches 171 may be formed at a plurality of corners of two sidewalls of the shell base 110 23 to reinforce the fixing effect of the shell base 110 inside the curtain fixed grooved rail. 24 The first compartment 111 has at least two first reinforcing bars 113 disposed inside. 25 The first reinforcing bars 113 may be disposed in parallel and symmetrically arranged at 26 the two opposing sides along the axle of the first compartment 111. The first 27 compartment 111 further has a plurality of first wheel-connecting grooves 115 formed on 5 2016228180 13 Sep 2016 1 the first reinforcing bars 113. 2 The second compartment 112 has a plurality of second wheel-connecting grooves 3 116 formed on a bottom surface of the shell base 110 as shown in FIGS. 2, 3, and 6. 4 Moreover, a connecting channel 117 is formed on the bottom surface of the shell base 110 5 and between the first reinforcing bars 113 as shown in FIGS. 2 to 4. The connecting 6 channel 117 extends to the second compartment 112 to couple the first wheel-connecting 7 grooves 115 and the second wheel-connecting grooves 116. That is to say, the first 8 wheel-connecting grooves 115 and the second wheel-connecting grooves 116 are formed 9 in the connecting channel 117. Additionally, the first compartment 111 has a plurality of 10 auxiliary cord access holes 118 at the bottom surface of the shell base 110 as shown in 11 FIGS 3, 4, 5 and 7. Preferably, a plurality of second reinforcing bars 114 are obliquely 12 disposed on a bottom inner face of the second compartment 112. A second height of the 13 second reinforcing bars 114 from the bottom surface of the shell base 110 is smaller than 14 a first height of the first reinforcing bars 113 from the bottom surface of the shell base 15 110 as shown in FIGS. 2, 4 and 6. Referring to FIGS. 2 to 4 again, the second 16 reinforcing bars 114 may be U-shaped. An area of the second compartment 112 17 surrounded by the second reinforcing bars 114 may be hollowed out, i.e., a plurality of 18 hollow-out area 119 are formed at the bottom of the second compartment 112. Thus, the 19 status of collecting the control cords of the first cord drum 150 and the second cord drum 20 160 may be observed from the bottom surface of the shell base 110 through the 21 hollow-out area 119. 22 A plurality of first shaft ends of the first guide wheel 120 are installed inside the first 23 wheel-connecting grooves 115. A control cord reset opening 121 is formed from the 24 first guide wheel 120 to a first end of the connecting channel 117 and is located in the 25 first compartment 111 as shown in FIG. 3. The control cord reset opening 121 is 26 aligned between the auxiliary cord access holes 118. In other words, the control cord 27 reset opening 121 and the auxiliary cord access holes 118 are arranged along a straight 6 2016228180 13 Sep 2016 1 line. And the control cord reset opening 12 is located at a middle point of the auxiliary 2 cord access holes 118. 3 A plurality of second shaft ends of the second guide wheel 130 are installed inside 4 the second wheel-connecting grooves 116. A control cord transferred opening 131 is 5 formed from the second guide wheel 130 to a second end of the connecting channel 117 6 and is located in the second compartment 112 as shown in FIG. 3. Moreover, a first 7 vertical distance between the first guide wheel 120 and the bottom surface of the shell 8 base 110 is greater than a second vertical distance between the second guide wheel 130 9 and the bottom surface of the shell base 110 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 6. Referring to 10 FIGS. 2 and 6, each of the first wheel-connecting grooves 115 has a first opening 11 upwardly and each of the second wheel-connecting grooves 116 has a second opening 12 downwardly so that the first opening and the second opening face in opposite directions. 13 Preferably, the first guide wheel 120 comprises a first pulley 122 and a first fixed shaft 14 123 penetrating through the first pulley 122 where the first shaft ends are formed at the 15 ends of the first fixed shaft 123. A plurality of first slopes 124 are formed at a plurality 16 of edges of the wheel surface of the first pulley 122. Furthermore, the second guide 17 wheel 130 comprises a second pulley 132 and a second fixed shaft 133 penetrating 18 through the second pulley 132 where the second shaft ends are formed at the ends of the 19 second fixed shaft 133. A plurality of second slopes 134 are formed at a plurality of 20 edges of the wheel surface of the second pulley 132. Thus, the first pulley 122 of the 21 first guide wheel 120 and the second pulley 132 of the second guide wheel 130 may 22 easily slide without producing any friction inside the first wheel-connecting grooves 115 23 and the second wheel-connecting grooves 116. What is more, a plurality of control 24 cords 220, 230 are slid on the first pulley 122 of the first guide wheel 120 and the second 25 pulley 132 of the second guide wheel 130 without sliding out of their wheel surfaces. 26 The auxiliary cord rotator 140 is installed inside the first compartment 111 for 27 driving the auxiliary cord 210 as shown in FIGS. 4, 5 and 7. An adjusting shaft joint 7 2016228180 13 Sep 2016 1 hole 141 is formed through the axial line of the auxiliary cord rotator 140 for an adjusting 2 shaft to penetrate through. Two extending portions of the auxiliary cord 210 pass through 3 the auxiliary cord access holes 118 as shown in FIG. 7. Through fine-tuning of the 4 adjusting shaft, the auxiliary cord rotator 140 may be slightly swung to drive the auxiliary 5 cord 210, one side for up and another side for down to control the tilting angles of the 6 curtain sunshade blades. To be more specific, the radial body of the auxiliary cord 7 rotator 140 has a sandwich portion 142 to fix the auxiliary cord 210. 8 The first cord drum 150 and the second cord drum 160 are installed inside the 9 second compartment 112. And, the first cord drum 150 and the second cord drum 160 are 10 interlocked to each other to furl and curl the first control cord 220 and the second control 11 cord 230 respectively as shown from FIGS. 4 to 6. Afirst driving shaft joint hole 151 is 12 formed through a first axial line of the first drum 150 for a control shaft 240 to penetrate 13 through as shown in FIG. 1. The rotation of the control shaft 240 simultaneously drives 14 the rotation of the first cord drum 150 and the second cord drum 160. When in use, the 15 control shaft 240 may further penetrate through a force-return braking module or a power 16 module not shown in the figures. Preferably, a second driving shaft joint hole 161 is 17 formed through a second axial line of the second cord drum 160 for the control shaft 240 18 to selectively penetrate through. Therein, the first axial line and the second axial line 19 are arranged in parallel, and a third axial line of the auxiliary cord rotator 140 is higher 20 than a plane formed by the first axial line and the second axial line. To be more specific, 21 a first wheel side of the first cord drum 150 and a second wheel side of the second cord 22 drum 160 are meshed each other by a plurality of gear teeth. In other words, the first 23 cord dram 150 has a first wheel side 152 with a plurality of first gear teeth. The second 24 cord drum 160 has a second wheel side 162 with a plurality of second gear teeth. The 25 first gear teeth of the first wheel side 152 is intermeshed with the second gear teeth of the 26 second wheel side 162 to enable the first cord dram 150 and the second cord drum 160 to 27 simultaneously rotate but in opposite directions. 8 2016228180 13 Sep 2016 1 Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6 again, the first guide wheel 120 is configured for guiding 2 the first control cord 220 and the second control cord 230 to pass through the control cord 3 reset opening 121, the second guide wheel 130 is configured for guiding the first control 4 cord 220 and the second control cord 230 to pass through the control cord transferred 5 opening 131. The furling conditions of the first control cord 220 and the second control 6 cord 230 control the raising status of a blind. 7 Referring to FIGS. 4 to 7, the first control cord 220 may be furled inside the first 8 cord dram 150. The second control cord 230 may be furled inside the second cord drum 9 160. The first control cord 220 and the second control cord 230 may be curled from the 10 second compartment 112 through the control cord transferred opening 131 and are circled 11 around the second guide wheel 130. And, the first control cord 220 and the second 12 control cord 230 may extend into the connecting channel 117 to furl into the first 13 compartment 111, then are circled around the first guide wheel 120 to curl from the 14 control cord reset opening 121 as shown in FIG. 6. The auxiliary cord 210 may be fixed 15 on the auxiliary cord rotator 140 by suspension. Both extending portions of the 16 auxiliary cord 210 may pass through the auxiliary cord access holes 118 as shown in FIG. 17 7. The swing condition of the auxiliary cord rotator 140 controls the tilting statuses of a 18 plurality of sunshade blades in the blind placed at a plurality of interval nodes of the 19 auxiliary cord 210. 20 Therefore, the double-drum type curtain drum module 100 disclosed in the present 21 invention modularizes curtain control components to concentrate a plurality of control 22 cords 220, 230 and changes the access positions of the cord outlet to the control cord 23 reset opening 121 which is aligned between the auxiliary cord access holes 118. The 24 conventional issue of rubbing against the uppermost sunshade blades is resolved due to 25 the force exerted by the control cord near the control cord access hole being oblique to 26 the curtain auxiliary cord and more freedom in the location selection of curtain 27 installation is provided. Moreover, two control cords 220, 230 pass through the control 9 2016228180 13 Sep 2016 1 cord reset opening 121 to increase weight-lifting capability of the control cords 220, 230 2 and to avoid cord curling of the control cords 220, 230 during raising/ lowering of the 3 curtain. 4 The above description of embodiments of this invention is intended to be illustrative 5 but not limited. Other embodiments of this invention may be obvious to those skilled in 6 the art in view of the above disclosure which still may be covered by and within the 7 scope of the present invention even with any modifications, equivalent variations and 8 adaptations. 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 10

Claims

CLAIMS What is claimed is:

1. A double-drum type curtain drum module comprising: a shell base for installing inside a curtain fixing grooved rail, the shell base having a first compartment and a second compartment, wherein the first compartment has at least two first reinforcing bars inside, wherein the first reinforcing bars are arranged in parallel on which a plurality of first wheel-connecting grooves are formed, wherein the second compartment has a plurality of second wheel-connecting grooves formed on a bottom surface of the shell base, wherein there is a connecting channel formed on the bottom surface of the shell base and between the first reinforcing bars, and the connecting channel extends into the second compartment so that the first wheel-connecting grooves and the second wheel-connecting grooves are formed in the connecting channel, wherein the first compartment further has at least two auxiliary cord access holes at the bottom surface of the shell base; a first guide wheel having a plurality of first shaft ends installed inside the first wheel-connecting grooves, wherein there is a control cord reset opening formed between the first guide wheel and a first end of the connecting channel and located in the first compartment, wherein the control cord reset opening is aligned between the auxiliary cord access holes; a second guide wheel having a plurality of second shaft ends installed inside the second wheel-connecting grooves, wherein there is a control cord transferred opening formed between the second guide wheel and a second end of the connecting channel and located in the second compartment, wherein a first vertical distance between the first guide wheel and the bottom surface of the shell base is greater than a second vertical distance between the second guide wheel and the bottom surface of the shell base; an auxiliary cord rotator installed inside the first compartment for driving an auxiliary cord passing through the auxiliary cord access holes; and a first cord drum and a second cord drum installed inside the second compartment, the first cord drum and the second cord drum being interlocked to each other for furling and curling a first control cord and a second control cord respectively, wherein a first driving shaft joint hole is formed through a first axial line of the first cord drum, wherein the first guide wheel is configured for guiding the first control cord and the second control cord to pass through the control cord reset opening, the second guide wheel is configured for guiding the first control cord and the second control cord to pass through the control cord transferred opening.
2. The module as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of the first wheel-connecting grooves has a first opening, each of the second wheel-connecting grooves has a second opening, wherein the first opening and the second opening face in opposite directions.
3. The module as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second cord drum has a second driving shaft joint hole formed through a second axial line of the second cord drum.
4. The module as claimed in claim 3, wherein the auxiliary cord rotator has an adjusting shaft joint hole formed through a third axial line of the auxiliary cord rotator.
5. The module as claimed in claim 1, wherein a first wheel side of the first cord drum and a second wheel side of the second cord drum are meshed each other by a plurality of gear teeth.
6. The module as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first control cord is furled inside the first cord drum and the second control cord is furled inside the second cord drum, wherein the first control cord and the second control cord are furled out from the second compartment through the control cord transferred opening, are guided into the first compartment through the second guide wheel and the connecting channel, and then are guided out from the control cord reset opening through the first guide wheel, and wherein the auxiliary cord is fixed on the auxiliary cord rotator by suspension and two extending portions of the auxiliary cord pass through the auxiliary cord access holes.
7. The module as claimed in claim 1, wherein a plurality of second reinforcing bars are obliquely disposed on a bottom inner face of the second compartment, wherein a second height of the second reinforcing bars is smaller than a first height of the first reinforcing bars.
8. The module as claimed in claim 7, wherein the second reinforcing bars are U-shaped and an area of the second compartment circled by the second reinforcing bars is hollowed out.
9. The module as claimed in claim 1, wherein the shell base has a plurality of alignment notches formed at a plurality of comers of two sidewalls of the shell base.
10. The module as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of the first guide wheel and the second guide wheel comprises a pulley and a fixed shaft penetrating through the pulley, wherein a plurality of slopes are formed at a plurality of edges of an wheel surface of the pulley.