EP1571289A1

EP1571289A1 - Counterbalanced stacking blind

Info

Publication number: EP1571289A1
Application number: EP04004654A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Li-Ming Cheng; Shu-Ling Wu
Original assignee: King Koon Industrial Corp; King Koon Ind Corp
Current assignee: King Koon Industrial Corp; King Koon Ind Corp
Priority date: 2004-03-01
Filing date: 2004-03-01
Publication date: 2005-09-07

Abstract

A counterbalanced stacking blind includes a headrail (10) with a first pulley (11), a second pulley (12), a first guide roller (13), and a second guide roller (14). A bottom rail (19) is mounted at a bottom side of the collapsible shade member (17). A controlling member (20) has two reels (30, 40) rotatably mounted in a seat (21). A cord (16) is wound in the reels at an upper portion, and a wound spring (50) is mounted in the reels at a lower portion. The cord (16) extends out of the seat (21), through the pulleys (11, 12) and guide rollers (13, 14), and turns downwards about the guide rollers to extend through the collapsible shade member (17) and fastened at the bottom rail (19). Whereby, a user can pull or push the bottom rail to collapse or spread the shade member (17).

Description

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a counterbalanced stacking blind, and more particularly a blind which can be easily operated without a lift cord.

2. Description of Related Art

For shielding off sunshine or external lights, a window is provided with a blind or curtain. Conventional blinds generally have a headrail secured on a wall or a ceiling. A plurality of horizontal or vertical slats (or a pleated cloth), as a shade member, is installed under the headrail, and a bottom rail is provided at a bottom side of the shade member. A controlling member is mounted in the headrail and has a lift cord extending through the slats or the pleated cloth. When a user pulls upwards the lift cord, the slats are stacked. When the user pulls the lift cord obliquely to release a locking member in the headrail, the slats can be freely spread downwards under the weight of the bottom rail and the slats.
However, because it is difficult to control an angle to obliquely pull the lift cord, two ends of the slats may be spread or stacked non-synchronously to cause an inclined status of the shade members. Furthermore, it is also inconvenient for a user to stack/spread the slats by pulling the cord, and the cord is also dangerous for some family members if say it becomes wound around the neck of child who may then panic.
Therefore, the invention provides an counterbalanced stacking blind to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.
The main objective of the present invention is to provide a stacking blind which can be spread or collapsed without use of a lift cord.
Other objectives, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

IN THE DRAWINGS

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a blind in accordance with the present invention;
Fig. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a controlling member of the blind in Fig. 1
Fig. 3 is a front view of the blind in accordance with the present invention;
Fig. 4 is a top view of the blind in accordance with the present invention;
Fig. 5 is a schematically perspective view of the blind in a spread status;
Fig. 6 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the blind in accordance with the invention; and
Fig. 7 is an exploded perspective view of a controlling member of the blind in Fig. 6.
With reference to Figs. 1-4, an counterbalanced stacking blind in accordance with the present invention has a headrail (10). The headrail (10) has a first pulley (11) and a second pulley (12) horizontally mounted therein. A first guide roller (13) and a second guide roller (14) are horizontally mounted in the headrail (10) and between the first pulley (11) and second pulley (12). A press roller (15) is mounted between the second pulley (12) and the second guide roller (14). The pulleys (11, 12), guide rollers (13, 14) and press roller (15) can be respectively mounted in a U-like bracket (not numbered) in the headrail (10).
A collapsible shade member (17) is provided under the head rail (10), and a bottom rail (19) is provided at a bottom side of the collapsible shade member (17). In this embodiment, the collapsible shade member (17) is a pleated cloth curtain.
A controlling member (20) has a seat (21) mounted in the headrail (10) and beside the first pulley (11). A chamber (23), shaped as a numeral "8" viewed from the top, is defined in the seat (21), and has a first pole (24) and a second pole (25) vertically formed in the chamber (23).
The seat (21) has two opposed sidewalls (22), and two wings (222) are respectively formed at bottom portions of the sidewalls (22) for securing the seat (21) on the headrail (10) by screws (not shown) inserted through the wings (222). A slot (221) is defined at the sidewall (22) facing the first pulley (11) and in communication with the chamber (23).
A first reel (30) and a second reel (40) are respectively and rotatably mounted on the first and second poles (24, 25). The first reel (30) has a first tube (31) with a first passage (311) for the first pole (24) to extend through the first tube (31), and the second reel (40) has a second tube (41) with a second passage (411) for the second pole (25) to extend through the second tube (41).
A first upper rim (32) is formed at an upper edge of the first tube (31), a first lower rim (33) is formed at a lower edge of the first tube (31), and a first middle rim (34) is formed between the upper rim (32) and lower rim (33). Thus, the first reel (30) has a first upper ring channel (35) defined between the first upper rim (32) and the first middle rim (34), and a first lower ring channel (36) defined between the first middle rim (34) and the first lower rim (33).
Similar to the first reel (30), the second reel (40) has a second upper rim (42), a second lower rim (43), a second middle rim (44), a second upper ring channel (45), and a second lower ring channel (46).
A cord (16) is reeled in the first upper ring channel (35) and second upper ring channel (45). In this embodiment, the cord (16) is composed of a single-strand thread and a twin-strand thread connected with each other. The single-strand is first reeled in the first upper channel (35) with a fixed end, and extends into the second upper channel (45). After being reeled in the second upper channel (45), the single-strand thread extends back to the first upper channel (35) and is connected with the twin-strand thread. The objective to use the single-strand thread reeled in the upper channels (35, 45) is to reduce a space occupied by the cord (16) in the upper channels (35, 45). Alternatively, the cord (16) can be composed of only the twin-strand thread.
Afterwards, the cord (16) (the twin-strand thread) extends through the slot (221) out of from the seat (21), and in turn through the first pulley (11), the first guide roller (13), the second guide roller (14), and the second pulley (12). The twin strands of the cord (16) are respectively turned downwards by the first guide roller (13) and the second guide roller (14), and extend through the collapsible shade member (17) and fastened on the bottom rail (19) by fasteners (161).
In detail, the cord (16) passing out from the seat (21) extends in turn through above the first pulley (11) and first guide roller (13), and in turn through under the second guide roller (14), press roller (15) and second pulley (12). Thereafter, the cord (16) is turned upwards about the second pulley (12), and then through under the press roller (15), and in turn through the second guide roller (14), first guide roller (13) and first pulley (11). Thereafter, the cord (16) is turned downwards about the first pulley (11), and then in turn through under the first guide roller (13), second guide roller (14), and the second pulley (12). Afterwards, the cord (16) is turned upwards about the second pulley (12) again, and the twin strands of the cords (16) are respectively turned downwards about the first guide roller (13) and second roller (14). The twin stands extend through the collapsible shade member (17) and are fastened by the fasteners (161).
By means of extending the twin strands of the cord (16) through the collapsible shade member (17), two sides of the collapsible shade member (17) can be spread and stacked.
A resilient member (50), a wound spring with an S-like shape, has a first coil (51) and a second coil (53) connected with each other. The first coil (51) is wound in the first lower ring channel (36) of the first reel (30), and the second coil (53) is wound in the second lower ring channel (46) of the second reel (40). A first aperture (52) and a second aperture (54) are radially defined through the first coil (51) and the second coil (53) respectively. By screws (not shown) inserted through the apertures (52, 54) and engaged in respective threaded holes (not shown) in the tubes (31, 41), the coils (51, 53) can be fastened on the tubes (31,41).
In operation, the first coil (51) and second coil (53) of the resilient member (50) are turned along with the first reel (30) and second reel (40) to be tensioned and loosened. When a user pulls the bottom rail (19) downwards to spread the shade member (17), the resilient member (50) is deformed to provide an elastic force for counterbalancing a weight of the bottom rail (19) and the shade member (17). Thus, the shade member (17) can be positioned at any desired position and will not freely retract upwards, as shown in Fig. 5.
When the user pushes the bottom rail (19) upwards to enable the resilient member (50) to rotate, the first reel (30) and second reel (40) are rotated under the elastic force to automatically pull the cord (16) towards the reels (30, 40) by the cord (16), so the shade member (17) is collapsed.
With reference to Figs. 6 and 7, in another embodiment, the shade member (18) is composed of a plurality (not numbered) of slats. Two tilters (60) are mounted in the headrail (10) and between the first and second pulleys (11, 12) for adjusting a shade angle of the slats. Each of the tilters (60) has a line (63) extending through the slats and wound in the tilter (60). The two tilters (60) are connected by a linkage (61), and an operating rod (62) is connected with the linkage (61). When the user turns the operating rod (62), the lines (63) will be pulled by the linkage (61) to adjust the shade angle of the slats. With a structure similar to the conventional blind, the tilter (60) is known by those skilled in the art and will not be described in detail further.
Furthermore, in this embodiment, the seat of the controlling member (20') is composed of two parallel plates (26). The reels (30, 40) are mounted between the plates (26), and a strut (27) is formed at a side facing the first pulley (11), and the cord (16) is turned about the strut (27) and extends out of from the plates (26).
It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the inven-tion to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.

Claims

An counterbalanced stacking blind comprising:

a headrail (10) having a first pulley (11) and a second pulley (12) horizontally mounted in the headrail, a first guide roller (13) and a second guide roller (14) horizontally mounted between the first pulley (12) and second pulley (13), a collapsible shade member (17) provided under the headrail (10), and a bottom rail (19) provided at a bottom side of the collapsible shade member (17);

a controlling member (20) mounted in the headrail (10) and beside the first pulley (11), the controlling member (20) having a seat (21) secured in the headrail (10), a first reel (30) and a second reel (40) rotatably mounted in the seat, wherein the first reel (30) has a first tube (31), a first upper rim (32) formed at an upper edge of the first tube (31), a first lower rim (33) formed at a lower edge of the first tube (31) and a first middle rim (34) formed between the upper rim and lower rim to define a first upper ring channel (35) between the first upper rim (32) and the first middle rim (35), and a first lower ring channel (36) between the first middle rim (35) and the first lower rim (34); the second reel (40) has a second tube (41), a second upper rim (42) formed at an upper edge of the second tube, a second lower rim (43) formed at a lower edge of the second tube and a second middle rim (44) formed between the upper rim (42) and lower rim (43) to define a second upper ring channel (45) between the second upper rim and the second middle rim, and a second lower ring channel (46) between the second middle rim and the second lower rim;

a cord (16), being composed of twin strands, reeled in the first upper ring channel (35) and second upper ring channel (45), and extending through the first pulley (11), the first guide roller (13), the second guide roller (14), and the second pulley (12), and the twin strands respectively turned about the first guide roller (13) and second guide roller (14) and extending downwards through the collapsible shade member (17) and fastened on the bottom rail (19) by fasteners; and

a wound spring (50) with an S-like shape having a first coil (51) securely wound in the first lower ring channel (35) of the first reel (30), and a second coil (53) securely wound in the second lower ring channel (45) of the second reel (40).
The counterbalanced stacking blind as claimed in claim 1, wherein the collapsible shade member (17) is a pleated cloth curtain.
The counterbalanced stacking blind as claimed in claim 1, wherein the collapsible shade member (17) is a plurality of slats, of which a shade angle can be adjusted.
The counterbalanced stacking blind as claimed in claim 1, wherein the headrail (10) further has a press roller (15) mounted between the second guide roller (14) and the second pulley (12).
The counterbalanced stacking blind as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first pulley (11), second pulley (12), first guide roller (13), and second guide roller (14) are respectively mounted in a U-like bracket in the headrail.
The counterbalanced stacking blind as claimed in claim 4, wherein the first pulley, second pulley, first guide roller, second guide roller and press roller are respectively mounted in a U-like bracket in the headrail (10).
The counterbalanced stacking blind as claimed in claim 1, wherein the seat (21) has a chamber (23), shaped as a numeral "8" viewed from the top, defined in the seat (21), a first pole (24) and a second pole (25) vertically formed in the chamber (23), and the first tube (31) and second tube (41) are respectively and rotatably mounted outside the first and second poles (24, 25).
The counterbalanced stacking blind as claimed in claim 7, wherein the seat (21) has two opposed sidewalls (22), and two wings (222) respectively formed at bottom portions of the sidewalls (22) for securing the seat (21) on the headrail (10) by screws inserted through the wings (222).
The counterbalanced stacking blind as claimed in claim 8, wherein the seat (21) further has a slot (221) defined at the sidewall (22) facing the first pulley (11) and in communication with the chamber (23), and the cord (16) extends out from the seat (21) through the slot (221).
The counterbalanced stacking blind as claimed in claim 3, wherein the headrail (10) has two tilters (60) mounted between the first and second pulleys (11, 12), each tilter (60) having a line (63) extending through the slats and wound in the tilter (60), the two titters (60) connected by a linkage (61), and an operating rod (62) connected with the linkage, by which the lines (63) can be pulled to adjust the shade angle of the slats;
the seat (21) is composed of two parallel plates (26), the reels (30, 40) are mounted between the plates (26); and
the seat (21) has a strut (27) formed at a side facing the first pulley (11), and the cord (16) is turned about the strut (27) and extends out of from the plates (26).