GB2247827A - Swag holder - Google Patents

Abstract

A swag holder 1 for draping a curtain over a window comprises a frame 11 having a plurality of inwardly or outwardly directed vanes 13 defining a guide hole 16 and a number of slots 22. The material is guided through the guidehole and inserted into the slots to form a pattern of folds in the material. An ornamental rosette can therefore be formed with the material. The frame is mounted on a bracket 5 for attachment to a wall adjacent a window or other opening. <IMAGE>

Description

SWAG HOLDER The present invention relates to a swag holder for a draped curtain or pelmet or the like over a window or other opening.

As well as having curtains hanging across windows which simply draw back and forth on a track, it is now common to have static curtains hung over a window. In this case, the arrangement of the curtain can take a number of forms. One such arrangement, is called a "swag and tail" arrangement in which a length of material is folded or bunched together and suspended from a number of holders on the wall around the window. The holders used to suspend the curtain mounted in this way are known as swag holders.

A known form of swag holder comprises a bracket extending horizontally from the wall having a U-shaped holder attached to the bracket, which holder extends vertically parallel to the wall. Folded material is firstly placed over the bracket and is then pulled through the arms of the U-shaped holder in a direction away from the wall. The arms are pinched to secure the fabric which is then drawn up over the arms to hide them and finally tucked in the middle to form a rosette. The formation of a rosette creates a pleasing aesthetic effect. These swag holders suffer from a number of disadvantages. The action of closing the arms together is not always easy and where the user wishes to form a rosette at the swag holder, he or she requires a degree of skill in order to achieve a rosette of satisfactory standard.

The present invention aims to solve these problems by providing a fabric holder which allows the user to form a rosette at the swag holder easily and with little skill by providing a fabric holder having a frame for passing therethrough a length of material and a plurality of fingers disposed about the periphery of the frame and having slots defined therebetween such that material may be inserted into the slots to form a pattern of folds therein guided by the slots.

One form of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: FIGURE 1 illustrates a "swag and tail" arrangement for a curtain over a window; FIGURE 2 shows a front perspective view of a first form of the swag holder; FIGURE 3 shows a rear perspective view of the swag holder shown in Figure 2; FIGURE 4 shows the detail of the attachment of the retaining frame to the bracket of the swag holder shown in Figures 2 and 3; FIGURES 5, 6 and 7 are front perspective view of the swag holder shown in Figures 2 to 4 with curtain material supported by the swag holder showing successive stages in the formation of a rosette from the curtain material; FIGURE 8 shows a front view of the frame of a second form of the swag holder; FIGURE 9 shows a side view of the frame shown in Figure 8; and FIGURE 10 illustrates a "bishops sleeve" arrangement for a curtain over a window.

A length of curtain material 40 can be arranged in a "swag and tail" arrangement above a window 30 by a number of swag holders 1, which may be two, or if the window is large, three or more. The swag holders are spaced at appropriate intervals across the window opening. The material 40 is suspended between each holder 1 to produce a looped effect, these loops 3 being called the "swags", while the end portions of the material are allowed to hang down on either side of the window as a "tail" 4. For a more pleasing effect, the material can be formed into rosettes 2 between each "swag" and between the "swags" and "tails" by arranging the material 40.

Another form of decorative arrangement of curtain material is known as a "bishops sleeve" arrangement, an example of which is shown in Figure 10. Here, two lengths of curtain material 50 can be arranged statically in a tiered formation on either side of a window 30 by suspending a loop of the material at one or more points down the side of the window as shown.

To complete the arrangement a valance 70 is placed along the top of the window to hide the tops of the static curtains.

In Figures 2 and 3, a swag holder 1 includes a bracket 5 having a wall plate 7 for attachment to the wall 6 by means of screws (not shown) inserted through screw holes 8 in a conventional manner. An arm 9 is carried by the plate 7 and extends from the wall 6 in a horizontal direction. The arm 9 and plate 7 may be made of metal. The arm 9 conveniently takes the form of a flat plate which is stiffened by two parallel U-shaped channels 10 running the length of the arm, and also formed with a slot 21 running parallel to and between the channels 10 for a portion of the length of the arm 9.

A retaining frame 11 of the swag holder is attached to and carried by the bracket 5. The frame 11 is preferably made of plastics material, for example low density polyethylene, and comprises a torus 12 and several resilient vanes 13 each carried at one edge on the inner surface of the torus 12 and directed radially inwardly of the torus 12. Each vane has lateral convergent edges 14, the lateral edges 14 of adjacent vanes being in closely spaced parallel relationship and defining slots or guideways 22 between adjacent vanes. Each vane also has a concave free inner edge 15, the vanes 13 being arranged so that these concave inner edges 15 define a circular hole 16 which is conveniently, but not necessarily, in the plane of and at the centre of curvature of the rigid torus 12.The vanes 13 have a rest position in the plane of the frame 11 but are free to bend outwardly of the frame 11 at their free ends.

A rectangular tongue 17 for attaching the frame 11 to the bracket 5, is located on the outer edge of the rigid torus 12 and extends outwardly in the plane of the frame 11 and is shown in detail in Figure 4. The tongue 17 has a through slot 18 running perpendicular to the plane of the torus 12 for slideably receiving the free end of the arm 9 of the bracket 5. A screw hole 23 runs from the outer wall of the tongue 17 into the slot 18. Located on and extending vertically downwards from the rigid torus 12 into the slot 18 are two parallel ribs 24 of opposing saw-tooth profile running parallel to the slot 18.

The arm 9 of the bracket 5 can be inserted into the slot 18 of the tongue 17 and thus locating the frame 11 perpendicular to the arm 9 and in a plane parallel to the wall 6. The frame 11 can be moved along the arm 9 towards and away from the wall 6 when the bracket 5 is mounted on the wall 6 until a desired position is reached, at which point, the frame is secured to the bracket 5 by inserting a locking screw 19 through the hole 23 in the tongue 17 and through the slot 21 in the arm 9 engaging a nut 20 on the screw 19. The parallel ribs 24 are located such that the nut is located between the ribs 24 and the outer edge of the nut 20 abuts the vertical edges of the parallel rib 24 in use, to prevent rotation of the nut upon tightening the screw 19.

As previously stated in order to achieve a "swag and tail" arrangement two or more swag holders 1 are attached at suitable locations on a wall above a window 30 as required. A length of curtain material 40 that is pleated or bunched together is suspended between the swag holders 1 by laying the material over the arms 9 of the brackets 5 such that two "tails" of equal length are made to hang down either side of the window and one or more "swags" are arranged between the "tails". In order that the "swags" and "tails" remain fixed in the desired arrangement and to arrange a rosette arrangement at each point of suspension of the curtain material on the swag holder, the material is taken from the arm 9 at the point where it is laid over the arm 9 and a portion of the curtain material fed forwards through the guide hole 16 of the frame 11 to hang in front of the swag holder 1 in a loop as shown in Figure 5. As the material 40 is fed through the guide hole 16 the free ends of the resilient vanes 13 displace outwardly slightly in the direction which the material 40 is being pulled to ease the feeding of the material through the guide hole 16. When sufficient material has been fed through the guide hole 16, or as the material is being fed through, material bunched through the guide hole 16 is also inserted into the slots or guideways 22 in substantially equal portions. The material then becoming gripped between the vanes. Ideally, material should be fed all the way along the guideways 22 upto the rigid torus 12.Some of the material may, of course, remain bunched through the guide hole rather than being fed into the slots. Finally, a central portion of the material is then tucked back into the central guide hole 16 to complete the rosette arrangement, such that arrangement of the material in the slots and the guide hole cover the front face of the frame and the resilient vanes 13 serve to grip the material inserted into the slots and tucked into the guide hole to maintain the rosette arrangement. A completed rosette is shown in Figure 7.

A second form of the swag holder will now be described with the aid of Figures 8 and 9. The second form of the swag holder comprises a frame 61 having a smaller rigid torus 62 and a plurality of vanes 63 carried at the outer surface of the torus 62 and directed radially outwardly of the torus 62, conveniently in the vertical plane of the torus 12 as can be seen in Figures 8 and 9. Each vane 63 has lateral diverging edges 64, the lateral edges 64 of adjacent vanes being in closely spaced parallel relationship and defining slots or guideways 66 between adjacent vanes. Each vane 63 has a convex free outer edge 65, the vanes 63 being arranged so that these convex outer edges 65 define the circumference of a circle.

As with the first form of the swag holder, a rectangular tongue 67 for attaching the frame 61 to the bracket 5 is located on the outer edge of the rigid torus 62 and extends outwardly in the plane of the frame 61. As can be seen from Figures 8 and 9, at the point where the tongue 67 extends from the frame 61, no vanes 63 are located. The attachment of the frame 61 to the bracket 5 is the same as for the first embodiment described above.

The method for forming the rosette arrangement is substantially the same as that described for the first form of the invention. In this case, a length of material 40 is pleated or bunched together and is fed through the centre of the rigid torus 62 and the material 40 inserted in substantially equal portions in each of the guideways or slots 66 within which it is retained. Again, a central portion of the material is tucked back through the center of the rigid torus to complete the rosette arrangement, the slots of guideways 66 and the hole 68 in the center of the torus maintaining the arrangement in place.

In both forms, the amount of material which should be pulled through the swag holder will vary from case to case and will depend upon the quantity and type of material being used. Both forms of the swag holder allow the user to make and remake rosette arrangements as required and require very little skill in use.

These swag holders can also be used to produce "bishops sleeve" arrangements as shown in figure 10.

In this case, the curtain material is fed from the front of the frame through the guide hole 16, 68 through to the back and the material inserted into some, but not all, of the slots or guideways 22, 66 at the lower half of the frame to produce the required arrangement. In this arrangement the frame is simply supported by the curtain material itself and need not be fixed to the wall. It will be apparent, from the above description that these two forms of the swag holder have remarkable flexibility for the user.

It will be appreciated that the swag holder can be produced in various sizes to cater for different requirements. However, a typical swag holder would comprise the frame having an outer diameter of 120mm with, in the first form, a guide hole diameter of 25mm and a slot width of 3mm, and, in the second form, an inner diameter of 70mm for the rigid torus 62 and a slot width of 4mm. However, these dimensions are not limited and any set of dimensions could be used which allow for curtain material to be fed through the torus or guide hole and held in slots or guideways.

Claims (11)

1. A holder for fabric material or the like comprising: a frame for passage there through of a length of material and a plurality of fingers disposed about the periphery of the frame and having slots defined therebetween, material being insertable into the slots for forming a pattern of folds therein guided by said slots.

2. A holder according to claim 1, wherein the frame is a torus or ring and the slots between the fingers or vanes are radially directed.

3. A holder according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the fingers are directed inwardly of the frame.

4. A holder according to any preceding claim wherein the fingers are directed outwardly of the frame.

5. A holder according to any preceding claim further comprising a bracket, the bracket, the frame and the fingers being formed integrally.

6. A holder according to any of claims 1 to 4 further comprising a bracket, the bracket and the frame and the fingers being individual components releasably fastened together.

7. A holder according to claim 6, wherein the bracket and the frame fit slidably together to permit adjustment of the position of the frame along the bracket.

8. A holder according to any of claims 5 to 7, wherein the bracket is formed with a wall attachment plate and an arm extending perpendicularly from the plate for supporting curtain material and for carrying the frame.

9. A holder according to claim 3, wherein the fingers are defined by resilient vanes each carried at an outer end by an inner region of the frame and directed radially inwardly of the frame, lateral edges of each vane being convergent, lateral edges of adjacent vanes being in closely spaced parallel relationship to define the slots and the inner ends of the vanes being spaced apart to define a passage for the material.

10. A holder according to claim 4, wherein the fingers are defined by vanes each carried at an inner end by an outer region of the frame and directed radially outwardly of the frame, lateral edges of each frame being divergent and with lateral edges of adjacent vanes being in closely spaced parallel relationship to define the slots.

11. A holder substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.