AU710043B3 - A pelmet assembly - Google Patents

Description

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A PETTY PATENT Name of Applicant: Actual Inventor: Address for Service: Invention Title: Mark AZZOPARDI As above CULLEN CO., Patent Trade Mark Attorneys, 240 Queen Street, Brisbane, QId. 4000, Australia.

A PELMET ASSEMBLY .C a The following statement is a full description of this invention including the best method of performing it known to me: A PELMET ASSEMBLY This invention relates to a pelmet assembly and particularly relates to a pelmet assembly which can provide improved access to a furnishing concealed by the pelmet and which may also be more easily assembled and attached to a wall.

Pelmets are well-known and are used to conceal the upper part of a window. The pelmet conceals the window furnishing which can include a curtain track, curtain rod, but can also be used to conceal other unsightly components. For instance, pelmets are also used over sliding doors to conceal the sliding door track arrangement. Pelmets are also used to conceal the upper mechanism of holland blinds, other types of window blinds, roll blinds, and the like.

One disadvantage with existing window pelmets is that the total pelmet is formed in the factory and must be transported to site and attached in one piece. For a large window (for instance a window having a width of between 2 to 3m), the pelmet needs to be very large and this can create transportation and handling problems and especially difficulties in installing the pelmet on the wall.

Another disadvantage with existing pelmets is that the pelmets do not have a top panel. This requires the pelmet to be fixed to the wall either via the side panels, or by using a separate reinforcing member. For a long pelmet, fixing can be difficult and may require two or more persons to properly install the pelmet. By not having a top wall, heat can rise over the top of the pelmet on a hot day and cold air can sink through the pelmet on a cold day. The front panel of the pelmet is very limited to its design as, by being supported only by the side walls or an intermediate reinforcing rod., the construction of the pelmet is constrained.

Another disadvantage with pelmets is that most are permanently fixed to the wall. To be attractive, the pelmet is usually not spaced too far in front of the wall and therefore the internal spacing is usually quite small.

Thus while the spacing is sufficient to conceal for instance a curtain track, it is difficult to access the track for instance to remove the curtain or to clean or maintain the track. It is known to have pelmets that can be unclipped from the wall. However, for long pelmets, two people may be required to unclip the pelmet and to clip the pelmet back onto the wall.

The present invention is directed to a pelmet assembly which may overcome at least some of the abovementioned disadvantages or provide the public with a useful or commercial choice.

In one form, the invention resides in a pelmet assembly having a facing panel, and a pair of side panels, the pelmet being hingedly attachable to a wall to enable it to be swung away from the wall to provide better access to a furnishing concealed by the pelmet.

In another form, the invention resides in a flat pack pelmet assembly which can be assembled and attached to a wall and which has a facing panel, a pair of side panels each attached to and extending from adjacent an end edge of the facing panel, a top panel attached to and extending from an upper edge of the facing panel and attached to each side panel to form a strong rigid unit, and at least one hinge member which is attached to the top panel and adjacent the edge of the top panel which is adjacent the wall, wherein the top panel is attached to an upper edge of the facing panel using fasteners, each said side panel is attached to a lower portion of the end edge of the facing panel by fasteners, and each side panel is attached to the top panel by a fastener.

In another form, the invention resides in a pelmet assembly of the type described above but which also has a top panel which extends from a top of the facing panel and to the wall and which extends between the side panels, and which is able to act as a shelf, and at least one hinge member which is attachable to the top panel and the wall to allow the pelmet to hinge about a horizontal axis.

In another form, the facing panel and the pair of side panels are formed separately and can be attached relative to each other through fasteners which are preferably concealed fasteners. If the pelmet has a top panel, it is preferred that the top panel is also formed separately and k attachable to the facing panel and/or the side panels.

With this arrangement, the pelmet can be manufactured as a flat pack system which allows larger pelmets to have a more compact form when being transported and provides for easier assembly.

After much research and experimentation, it has been found that a certain type of fastener arrangement between the various panels seems to provide a better strength to the assembled pelmet arrangement.

Thus, in another form, the invention resides in a pelmet assembly having a facing panel, a pair of side panelsand a top panel, the facing panel being attached to each side panel adjacent a lower edge of the facing panel and the side panel, the facing panel being attached to the top panel adjacent an upper edge of the facing panel and a front edge of the top panel, a rear edge of the top panel being fastened to an upper part of the side panel. Preferably concealed fasteners are used and this fastening arrangement allows ready assembly and provides a good strong pelmet unit.

The pelmet is hingedly attachable to a wall to enable it to be swung away from the wall. In one form, the pelmet can hinge about a substantially horizontal axis to enable it to be swung upwardly to allow much better access to the furnishing concealed by the pelmet. When swung upwardly, a chock, stay or like member may be used to hold the pelmet in the swung away position. In this form, it is found that a good attachment can be formed if the pelmet has a top panel which is hinged to the wall.

The hinge may be of various types and may consist of a continuous hinge or a number of separate hinges. It is preferred that two spaced apart hinges are used each hinge being adjacent an end edge of the top panel. By having the hinge on the top panel, there is greater versatility in attaching the pelmet to the wall as the pelmet should be attached to a wall stud and the hinge can be simply positioned anywhere on the top panel until a wall stud is located.

In contrast, conventional pelmets do not have such adjustability and if a conventional pelmet is placed on the wall and the side panels are not in front of a wall stud, then it is usually necessary to use an expensive fastener specifically designed for a cavity. These fasteners are difficult to install and can generally not be removed and are not considered very satisfactory.

In another form, the pelmet can be hingedlly attached to allow it to hinge about a substantially vertical axis. In this form, a vertical pivot pin may be attached to one of the side panels to allow the side panel to be pivotally attached to the wall. The other side panel may be clipped to the wall such that it can be unclipped to swing the entire pelmet about a vertical axis away from the wall to again provide better access to furnishing.

Of course, the size, shape, configuration and length of the pelmet can vary to suit. The pelmet can be made from various materials such as wood, wood composites, metal, plastics, or combinations of the above.

The pelmet may be dressed by fabrics which may be attached the pelmet by glue, tacks, Velcro T M pins, or other form of attachment.

An embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to the following drawings in which Figure 1 shows a side elevation of a pelmet.

Figure 2 shows generally a pelmet above a window.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown a pelmet assembly which has a facing panel 11 and two side panels 12, 13 and a top panel 14.

In the embodiment, facing panel 11 is approximately 20cm tall and top panel 14 is approximately 15cm wide (thereby spacing the front panel approximately 15cm from the back wall 15). The length of the facing panel and the top panel will vary to suit the window but is typically between 100 to 300cm.

Front panel 11 is rectangular when viewed in plan as are the two side panels and the top panel. Top panel 14 fully covers the top portion of the pelmet such that no dust can pass through the top of the pelmet. As well, hot air cannot pass upwardly through the pelmet and cold air cannot pass downwardly through the pelmet. Top wall 14 is strong enough to function as a display shelf to provide greater versatility to the pelmet assembly.

The pelmet assembly is hingedly attached to wall 15 via a pair of spaced apart hinges 16 (only one hinge being shown in Figure Hinges 16 are at a rear longitudinal edge of top panel 14 and fasten to the top of panel 14 and to wall 15. This arrangement allows the pelmet to pivot about a horizontal axis between a use position shown in Figure 1 and a pivoted upwardly position in the direction of arrow 17 to a clear position where the furnishing (not shown) concealed by the pelmet can be accessed more readily.

The pelmet assembly in the embodiment is formed from separate panels which are attached by concealed fastenings. The assembly is attached in the following manner.

Facing panel 11 has a lower longitudinal edge 18 and at this lower longitudinal edge is attached to a lower portion 19 of side panel 12.

The attachment is done through a concealed fastener which consists of a dowel (not shown) which extends into bore 20 and which engages with a cam (not shown) which sits within recess 21. The head of the dowel engages with the cam and the cam can be rotated by a screwdriver to pull the dowel inwardly thereby clamping facing panel 11 to side panel 12.

The top of facing panel 11 is attached to the front of top wall 14 through a second concealed fastener 22 which is identical to the one described immediately above. Finally, the rear of top wall 14 is fastened to side wall 12 again through a concealed fastener 23 which is identical to that described above. A similar fastening arrangement is found on the other end of the pelmet assembly and it is found that fastening the assembly in this manner provides a good strong rigid structure which can be formed from separate panels and fastened together. By having separate panels, the pelmets can be transported in a flat pack condition which considerably saves on transportation costs. The panels can be simply unpacked and fastened together and thenattached to wall Hinge 16 does not need to be positioned exactly at the edge of top panel 14 and can be adjusted along top panel 14 until a wall stud is located. This again considerably improves the ease of installation of the pelmet assembly.

It should be appreciated that various other changes and modifications can be made to the embodiment described without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

Claims (3)

1. A flat pack pelmet assembly which can be assembled and attached to a wall and which has a facing panel, a pair of side panels each attached to and extending from adjacent an end edge of the facing panel, a top panel attached to and extending from an upper edge of the facing panel and attached to each side panel to form a strong rigid unit, and at least one hinge member which is attached to the top panel and adjacent the edge of the top panel which is adjacent the wall, wherein the top panel is attached to an upper edge of the facing panel using fasteners, each said side panel is attached to a lower portion of the end edge of the facing panel by fasteners, and each side panel is attached to the top panel by a fastener.

2. The pelmet assembly of claim 1, wherein the fasteners are concealed fasteners.

3. The pelmet assembly of claim 1 or claim 2 substantially as hereinbefore described. DATED this 23 rd day of July 1999 Mark AZZOPARDI By his Patent Attorneys CULLEN CO.