GB2052248A - Curtain pleating tape - Google Patents

Abstract

A perforate band 21 engaged with hooks 20 located in pockets 17 of a curtain pleating tape 10 enable the latter to have its group of pleats 19 partially open, thereby enabling the overall width of curtain 18, to which the pleating tape 10 is secured, to be adjusted precisely to a desired dimension. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Curtain pleating tape This invention concerns curtain pleating tapes.

In such tapes, it is usual to incorporate draw cords which extend longitudinally of the tape and which can be shortened relative to the tape, thereby causing the latter, and the curtain to which the tape will in use be sewn, to assume a puckered or pleated configuration. The draw cords are, of course, incor porated so as to float at the surface of the tape, at predetermined intervals, being woven in with the tape at locations therebetween, and the tape puckers or pleats at the locations where the cords are floating.

In elementary forms of known tapes, the cords float and are woven in at regular intervals so that shortening of the draw cords gives a regular pucker ing or pleating of the tape and its curtain over its whole width. In this instance, the shortening can be effected down to any desired curtain width.

Tapes are also known which provide for there to be a repeating pattern comprising a group (e.g. of three) of floating portions of draw cord in close succession and separated from one another by only minimal woven-in portions, followed by a relatively long woven-in section. With this type of tape (refer red to herein as a "spaced pinch-pleat type tape") shortening of the draw cords serves to create groups of pleats at spaced intervals along the tape, with unpleated sections therebetween.

Such spaced pinch-pleat type tape suffers from the disadvantage that it is adapted to be shortened, by shortening its draw cords, by a specific amount, depending upon the number of groups of pleats occurring in the tape length being handled. There is little possibility of a user, without considerable and extensive experience, matching a tape length to a width of curtain fabric in such a manner that, after sewing the tape to the curtain, and shortening the draw cords, the fully-pleated curtain width corres ponds to a desired dimension related to a fixed space to be curtained. Thus if, for example, a pleated curtain is a few centimetres narrower than required, there is no practical possibility of the pleats (or some of them) being opened partially, and being reliably retained so opened, to make up the required extra curtain width.

An object of the present invention is to provide means whereby this difficulty can be obviated, and permitting the pleats, or some of them, to be opened to predetermined extents and to be retained against opening further, thereby to permit the tape length, and its curtain, to be properly matched to a desired 'dimension.

With this object in view, the present invention provides a curtain pleating tape of the spaced pinch-pleat type and having hook openings or pockets at regular intervals along its length, char acterised by the provision, in at least one pair of the openings or pockets, of which one is adjacent each end of respective group of floating draw cord portions, of respective hooks, in combination with a band, perforated at intervals along its length, engaged with said hooks.

With such an arrangement, the pleating tape portion between said hooks can be drawn down to an extent lesser than is necessary to form tight pleats, thereby forming slightly open pleats whose configuration is retained by the band expanding between the hooks and preventing opening of the pleats.

The band may be, for example, of a plastics material, such as nylon, being perforated at regular intervals, e.g. of 1.5 cms spacing, along its longitudinal centre line.

The tape of the invention may have its floating draw cord portions in groups of two, three or four, according to the number of pleats required in each group of pleats.

The invention will be described further, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment thereof, it being understood that the following description is illustrative, and not limitative, of the scope of the invention.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a fragmentary perspective view illustrating part of a length of pinch-pleat type curtain pleating tape attached to a curtain and in its non-pleated condition; Figure 2 is a view comparable with Figure 1 but showing the tape shortened and pleated to cause corresponding pleating of the curtain; Figure 3 is a perspective view illustrating a pair of hooks and perforate band which serve, with the pinch-pleat tape, to form the invention; and Figure 4 is a fragmentary perspective view, enlarged in comparison with Figures 1 and 2, illustrating the use of the band and hooks of Figure 3 in conjunction with the tape of Figures 1 and 2 in accordance with the invention.

The embodiment of curtain pleating tape illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 is a relatively wide tape 10, being for instance nine centimetres in width and is woven using soft and pliable multifilament warp threads and relatively stiff monofilament weft threads, the latter imparting a substantial stiffness to the tape in the weftwise direction. Adjacent each longitudinal edge, the tape has draw cords 11 and 12 incorporated therein, these each being arranged alternately to be woven-in as at 13 over a longitudinal length of the tape equal to about one and a half times the width of the tape, and to float as at 14 for a group of three successive portions 15 which together are of length approximately equal to the woven-in length 13, the cords 11, 12 being caught in with the fabric of the tape at minimally short locations 16 between the adjacent floating portions 15 in the group.

Hook-receiving pockets 17 are provided at intervals along the tape, these being disposed (considered transversly of the tape) between the draw cords 11 and 12. Longitudinally of the tape, the pockets 17 are present in those portions of the tape where the draw cords 11, 12 are woven in as at 13, but are absent in correspondence with the floating cord portions as at 14.

Such a tape 10 is known, being designated, for instance, as a "triple" pleating tape, because upon the draw cords 11, 12 being reduced in length, the floating cord portions cause the corresponding portions of tape (and of any curtain 18 to which the tape 10 is secured) to become pleated, so that groups of three pleats are produced at intervals along the tape as at 19.

Also provided are a number of hooks 20 (see particularly Figure 3), which may be conventional hooks as are used in connection with curtain pleating tapes, as well as a band 21, e.g. 10 to 15 mm in width, which is perforated at intervals along its length with perforations 22 which can be engaged by one of the hooks, the spacing of the perforations being, for instance; of the order of 12 to 15 mm. This band may be continuous so that desired lengths with four or five perforations therein may be cut from it, or it may be supplied as pre-cut lengths as shown, for example 65 to 100 mm in length.

After the tape 10 (and-any curtain 18 to which it is secured) has been pleated as shown in Figures 2 and 4, by shortening its draw cords 11, 12 it will have a predetermined length. Should this length not conform to a desired dimension (e.g. half of the length of a curtain rail, not shown, where the curtain 18 and another similar curtain are being fitted to a single rail), but fall short of said desired dimension, some or all of the pleats 19 can be opened up slightly to make up for the deficiency and use is then made of the hooks 20 and one or more of the band lengths 21 to retain these opened-up pleats 19 against further opening up. To achieve this, as shown in Figure 4, at each of the groups 19 of pleats, or at selected groups 19 of the pleats, hooks 20 are inserted into conventional pockets 17 adjacent each end ofthe group of pleats 19 and a respective length of the perforated band 21 is engaged with these hooks 20 so as to extend across the respective group of pleats 19.

Then the band serves to prevent the respective group of pleats 19 from being opened up anyfurther than is desired, and enables the entire width of the curtain to be fixed appropriately.

It will readily be appreciated that a user can select the pockets 17 and the perforations 22 in which the respective hooks 20 re inserted in accordance with theamount by which the group 19 of pleats is required to remain open.

Claims (5)

1. A curtain pleating tape of the pinch-pleat type and having hook openings or pockets at regular intervals along its length, characterised by the provision, in at least one pair of the openings or pockets, of which one is adjacent each end of respective group of floating draw cord portions, of respective hooks, in combination with a band, perforated at intervals along its length, engaged with said hooks.

2. A curtain pleating tape as claimed in claim 1 wherein the band is of a plastics material.

3. A curtain pleating tape as claimed in claim 1 or 2 wherein the band is perforated at regular intervals.

4. A curtain pleating tape as claimed in claim 3 wherein the band is perforated along its-longitudinal centre line.

5. A curtain pleating tape as claimed in claim 1 and substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.