EP1184534A2

EP1184534A2 - Roll-up blind apparatus

Info

Publication number: EP1184534A2
Application number: EP01120848A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Ennio Montagna
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2000-09-01
Filing date: 2001-08-30
Publication date: 2002-03-06
Also published as: IT1315507B1; EP1184534A3; ITVI20000195A0; ITVI20000195A1

Abstract

A lateral member for tunnel housings for containing roll-up blinds, includes a plate member to be applied to the open sides of a housing, a cavity formed in the plate member in a central position, and a means for positioning an end of a roll-up roller of a blind which is accommodated by interlocking in the cavity; its particularity consists of the fact that the positioning means includes a casing which forms an eccentrically arranged seat for rotatably accommodating the end and is provided with mutually opposite outer toothed surfaces for engagement with opposite toothed walls of the cavity, so that by turning through at least a fraction of a full turn the body in the cavity one achieves a stepwise variation of the position of the seat. The invention overcomes the drawbacks observed in the prior art, allowing an ideal positioning of the roll-up roller and an easy correction of its incorrect position caused by faulty installation of the housing, so as to achieve correct upward and downward movement of the blind.

Description

The present invention relates to a roll-up blind apparatus, particularly but not exclusively for use in the field of building in general.
Currently, in new buildings and in renovations, prefabricated housings of the tunnel-shaped type, are arranged directly below the lintel of windows or acting directly as a lintel, to contain roll-up blinds. Prefabricated housings having various widths and heights are of course commercially available in order to take into account the various requirements of use. Before installation, the housings are closed at their ends by lateral members that support the blind roll-up roller. These lateral members are generally made of wood and the seats for the ends of the roll-up roller are formed directly on site, by providing the necessary holes by means of adapted templates.
Moreover, it is known that for the proper operation of the blind for rolling up and down, the roll-up roller must not be too distant from the plane on which the blind slides. This requirement is usually met in the case of narrow housings but not in the case of so-called wide housings.
In order to obviate this problem, at the building site, the workers provide the seat for the end of the roll-up roller on each of the lateral members, in an eccentric position with respect to the center of the lateral members. Clearly, the roll-up roller, once installed in these seats, has many straightness and planarity defects that, in the long term, cause many malfunctions of the blind during its sliding.
In order to obviate those drawbacks, at least partially, commercially available lateral members, made of plastics, allow to adjust the position of the ends of the roll-up roller in a vertical direction. Such lateral member is constituted by a plate member which has a blind cavity, approximately in a central position. The blind cavity is arranged predominantly vertically and is provided with mutually opposite toothed vertical side walls. The cavity accommodates a casing, which is approximately shaped like a parallelepiped and is provided with lateral surfaces suitable to engage the walls of the cavity. A seat is provided at the center of the casing and in turn accommodates the bearing associated with one end of the roll-up roller. Accordingly, by moving up or down the casing contained in the cavity it is possible to modify the position of the end of the roll-up roller with respect to the lateral member, so as to achieve appropriate adjustments of the planarity of the roller.
The main drawback of the above described lateral member is that it only partially solve the problem of positioning the end of the roller with respect to the lateral member. It in fact allows adjustment only in a vertical direction, without any action in a horizontal direction. Accordingly, that lateral members is suitable for narrow housings, but is rarely used for wide housings, for which preference is given to the use of conventional lateral members.
In this last case, the adoption of lateral members to be prepared on-site is highly disadvantageous, because of the nonuniformities in execution and because of economic reasons due to the time spent by the workers in providing the necessary holes.
The aim of the present invention is to overcome the drawbacks noted above in the prior art.
A further aim of the invention is to provide a roll-up blind apparatus having a lateral member for a tunnel-shaped housing for containing the roll-up blind that allows to position the roll-up roller inside the housing at will, but still with great precision.
An object of the invention is to provide an apparatus having a lateral member that can be applied rapidly and very easily to any type of prefabricated housing.
Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus having a lateral member that allows separate adjustments for each end of the roll-up roller in order to compensate for any errors in installation.
Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus having a lateral member to be manufactured by using known molding technologies, so as to manufacture it at advantageous costs with respect to the lateral members that are already commercially known.
Those aims and objects, and others which will become apparent hereinafter, are achieved by roll-up blind apparatus as claimed in the appended claims.
Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the description of a preferred but not exclusive embodiment, illustrated only by way of non-limitative example in the accompanying five drawings, wherein:
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a tunnel housing and of a corresponding lateral member of an apparatus according to the invention;
Figure 2 is a front view of the lateral member of Figure 1;
Figure 3 is an enlarged-scale perspective view of the casing of the positioning means of the lateral member of Figure 2;
Figure 4 is a partially exploded perspective view of a tunnel housing and of a lateral member of an apparatus according to a further aspect of the invention, provided with an alternative embodiment of the positioning means;
Figure 5 is a detailed perspective view of the means for retaining the lateral members, according to the invention, to be applied to the tunnel housings;
Figure 6 is a front view of the lateral member of Figure 4;
Figure 7 is a view of a tunnel housing and of a lateral member according to the invention in the assembled condition, the lateral member being shown in a cross-section taken along the plane VII-VII of Figure 6.
With reference to the accompanying figures, the apparatus according to the invention comprises a lateral member, generally designated by the reference numeral 8, applied equally to the right and left sides of a prefabricated housing 9 for accommodating a roll-up roller 10.
In the specific case, the lateral member 8 is constituted by a plate member 11, which is made of molded plastic and whose shape approximately reproduces the cross-section of the housing 9.
A blind cavity is formed during molding in the central part of the plate member 11 and forms a rectangular receptacle 12, which is arranged substantially horizontally.
The mutually opposite horizontal walls 13 and 14 of the cavity are each provided with a set of finely spaced teeth, while the mutually opposite vertical walls 15 and 16 are each provided with a rounded recess 17.
The means 18 for positioning the end 19 of the roll-up roller 20 of the blind 10 is accommodated in the receptacle 12 formed by the cavity.
A particular feature of the invention is the positioning means 18 which comprises a casing 21 that forms an eccentrically arranged seat 22 for rotatably accommodating the end 19.
The casing is also provided with mutually opposite outer toothed surfaces, which are respectively designated by the reference numerals 23, 24, 25 and 26, and engage the toothed horizontal walls 13 and 14 of the cavity.
The casing 21 has a square structure whose side is equal to the length of the walls 15 and 16.
Four tabs 27 protrude from the centerline of the back of the surfaces 23, 24, 25 and 26 toward the center of the casing.
The tabs 27 support an annular member 28, which forms the seat 22. The eccentricity of the seat 22 is provided by virtue of the different length of the tabs 27.
Specifically, the tabs 27 that protrude from the back of the surfaces 24 and 25 are as long as, or longer than, the tabs that protrude from the back of the surfaces 23 and 26, which in turn have the same length.
Accordingly, once the casing 21 has been inserted in the receptacle 12 of the cavity, the seat 22 is in a position which is in any case eccentric with respect to the center of the lateral member 8 regardless of the position of the casing 21.
In fact, in order to adjust the position of the end 19 of the roll-up roller 20, it is sufficient to turn through a fraction of a full turn the casing 21 in the cavity, accordingly achieving a stepwise variation in the position of the seat 22.
Assume, for example, that the casing 21 is contained in the receptacle 12 of the cavity, as shown in Figure 2. If one wishes to change the position of the end 19, it is sufficient to extract the body 21 from the cavity, then turn it through a quarter turn (90°) and reinsert it in the receptacle 12. At this point the seat 22 is arranged diametrically opposite to its previous arrangement, accordingly determining a new position. If this adjustment is not sufficient, it is possible to turn the casing 21 through an additional quarter turn in the described manner. Moreover, if this third adjustment is not sufficient, the casing 21 is turned through another quarter turn.
In summary, by turning consecutively through a quarter turn the casing 21 in the receptacle 12, one obtains four different positions of the seat 22 which are mutually diametrically opposite.
In order to achieve an even more refined adjustment of the position of the end 19 of the roll-up roller 20 with respect to the lateral member 8, an alternative embodiment of the positioning means is provided, as shown in Figures 4 and 6, and is generally designated by the reference numeral 118.
The particularity of the positioning means 118 is the fact that it includes a first casing 119, which forms a receptacle 120, a second casing 121, which in turn forms a central seat 122 for rotatably accommodating the end 19 and is accommodated in the receptacle 120.
Accordingly, the receptacle 12 formed by the cavity accommodates the first casing 119, which in turn contains the second casing 121.
In more detail, the first casing 119 has a narrow and tall rectangular shape and its shorter external surfaces 123 and 124 are toothed, so as to engage the correspondingly toothed opposite walls 13 and 14 of the cavity.
Moreover, the first casing 119 has longer inner surfaces 125 and 126, which are likewise toothed in order to engage the second casing 121.
In turn, the second casing is square and its opposite outer lateral surfaces 127 and 128 are toothed so as to engage the corresponding surfaces 125 and 126 of the first casing 119.
The first casing 119 contains the seat 122, which is formed by an annular member 129 adapted to accommodate the bearing with which the end 19 of the roll-up roller 20 is provided.
Accordingly, the position of the end 19 is adjusted by virtue of the positioning means 118 by inserting in the receptacle 12, in the intended position, the first casing 119 and by then inserting in the latter the second casing 121.
In order to further modify the position, it is sufficient to move inside the receptacle 12 the first casing 119 horizontally and to move the second casing 121 vertically inside the first casing 119. Clearly, the positioning means 118 provides an adjustment of the position of the end 19 that is more precise and, most of all, has shorter steps than the adjustment obtained by virtue of the positioning means 18.
Another characteristic of the lateral member 8 is that it adapts without any modification to housings 9 of any size.
The plate member 11 is in fact surrounded on at least three sides by a continuous border 29, which abuts against the edge 30 of the housing 9.
A locking means, generally designated by the reference numeral 31, is provided on the side of the border 29 that is directed toward the edge 30 and allow to lock the lateral member 8 permanently to the housing 9.
The locking means 31 is constituted by a plurality of T-shaped protrusions 32 which protrude monolithically from the side of the border 29 that is directed toward the edge 30 and are adapted to penetrate the polystyrene body of the housing 9 during the application of the lateral member 8 thereto.
Proximate to the protrusions, there are blades 33 which are slightly shorter than the protrusions and are also adapted to penetrate the body of the housing 9 in the same manner as the protrusions 32.
The locking means 31 is completed by a retention means 34, such as the one shown in Figure 5, which is constituted by a blade which has an L-shaped cross-section.
Three retention means 34 are used in order to lock the lateral member 8 permanently to the housing 9 and are inserted in slots 35 formed at a uniform mutual distance on the margin of the plate member 11, so that the retention means 34 enters the body of the housing 9 at right angles to the protrusions 32.
In turn, the retention means 34 is locked in the slots 35 by a step 36 which is formed on the back of each retention means 34 and abuts against a portion of the edge of the slots 35.
The apparatus according to the invention achieves the intended aim and objects, allowing a wide variety of adjustments of the position of the end of the roll-up roller both vertically and horizontally, accordingly meeting the requirements that arise during the installation of the housings.
Moreover, the lateral member adapts without modifications both to the right side and to the left side of the housing and most of all allows separate adjustments on the right side and on the left side, so as to place the roll-up roller into the best operating condition.
The lateral member 8 can be applied to any type of commercially available housing thanks to the border that surrounds the plate member, so that its manufacture requires a single mold, achieving an actual reduction in manufacturing costs.
The apparatus to the invention is susceptible of numerous modifications and variations, within the scope of the appended claim.
All the details may be replaced with other technically equivalent elements.
In practice, the materials used, as well as the contingent shapes and dimensions, may be any according to the requirements.

Claims

A roll-up blind apparatus comprising a lateral member for a tunnel housing for containing a roll-up blind, a plate member to be applied to the open sides of said housing, a cavity formed in said plate member in a substantially central position, and a means for positioning one end of a roll-up roller of said blind which is accommodated by interlocking in said cavity, characterized in that said positioning means comprises at least one casing having an eccentrically adjustable seat for rotatably accommodating said end of said roller; said casing being adjustably arranged in said cavity.
The apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that said casing is square and has four mutually opposite outer toothed surfaces for engaging opposite walls of said cavity, said walls of said cavity being substantially horizontal and correspondingly toothed; two of said four toothed surfaces of said casing engaging said walls of said cavity at a time, one of said surfaces engaging one of said walls and the opposite surface engaging the other wall; said seat being eccentric to said casing so that by arranging the casing in the cavity in a selected one of the four positions allowed by the square shape of the casing, the position of the seat may be eccentrically adjusted.
The apparatus according to claim 2, characterized in that said casing comprises four tabs, each of said tabs protruding monolithically from the centerline of the back of said toothed surfaces of said casing, said tabs supporting an annular member which forms said seat, two of said tabs, that are not mutually opposite, having the same length and being longer than the other pair of tabs, that have the same length.
The apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that said positioning means comprises a first casing which forms a receptacle, a second casing which forms a central seat for rotatably accommodating said end and is accommodated in said receptacle, said first casing having mutually opposite outer toothed surfaces for engaging opposite walls of said cavity which are substantially horizontal and correspondingly toothed and mutually opposite inner toothed surfaces for engaging corresponding mutually opposite outer toothed surfaces formed in said second casing, so that by moving said second casing in said first casing and in turn moving said first casing in said cavity, the seat is eccentrically adjusted with respect of said cavity.
The apparatus according to claim 4, characterized in that said first casing has a rectangular shape whose height is equal to the minimum distance measured between said walls of said cavity.
The apparatus according to claim 5, characterized in that said outer toothed surfaces are formed on the short sides of said first casing and in that said inner toothed surfaces are formed on the long sides of said first casing.
The apparatus according to claim 6, characterized in that said second casing is square, with a side equal to the minimum distance measured between said inner toothed surfaces of said first casing, said second casing being provided with an annular member which forms said seat.
The apparatus according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises an adaptor border that surrounds said plate member on at least three sides.
The apparatus according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises, on the side of said edge that is directed for application toward the border of said housing, a means for locking said lateral member to said housing, said locking means comprising a plurality of T-shaped protrusions and a plurality of blades which are smaller than said protrusions and protrude from said edge in order to enter the body of said housing.
The apparatus according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises a retention means for retaining said lateral member with respect to said housing, said retention means comprising a plurality of L-shaped blades adapted to penetrate said body of said housing at right angles to said protrusions and to said blades through slots formed in the edge of said plate member, said retention means interlocking in said slots by means of a step which is formed on the back of said L-shaped blades and engages a portion of the edge of said slots.