GB2253228A

GB2253228A - Apparatus for mechanically assembling slats of a venetian blind

Info

Publication number: GB2253228A
Application number: GB9103354A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Herman Oskam
Original assignee: Hunter Douglas Industries BV
Current assignee: Hunter Douglas Industries BV
Priority date: 1991-02-18
Filing date: 1991-02-18
Publication date: 1992-09-02
Also published as: GB9103354D0

Abstract

Apparatus for mechanically assembling slats of a venetian blind in ladder means extending from a headrail 40 in which the headrail has a greater width than the slat material, and in which vertical stacking arms 14, 16 are provided adjacent their upper end with a space 42 to accommodate the headrail, the headrail being caused to move upwardly by the slats being stacked between the stacking arms and subsequently urged upwardly, the upward movement of the headrail causing upward movement of the stacking arms. <IMAGE>

Description

APPARATUS FOR MECHANICALLY ASSEMBLING SLATS OF A VENETIAN BLIND The present invention relates to apparatus for mechanically assembling slats of a venetian blind in ladder means extending from a headrail.

Various methods of stacking the slats into a ladder means have been proposed. It has been customary to stack the assembled slats in the ladder means of the slats 'either with or without a headrail on top. In blinds with larger width slats, for example 50 mm slats, the headrail has exactly the same width as the slats.

In recent times the practice has changed into almost always assembling the slats with the headrail on top and the ladder means depending therefrom. In the presently fashionable micro blinds with the slats of about 16 mm of width, the headrail width has not been reduced to the same dimensions as this would prevent sufficient rigidity for the headrail for larger window installations. Hence the slat stacking guides have been widened immediately upwardly of the slat supporting pawls.

It has been found that the lateral support for the slats with such an arrangement is not sufficient and its severe drawbacks result from this in the further assembly operations, especially in the mounting of the lift cords subsequently.

It is now proposed, according to the present invention, to provide apparatus for mechanically assembling slats of a venetian blind in ladder means extending from a headrail, said apparatus comprising means for feeding and guiding slat material of a given width longitudinally of its length along a slat feed path, at least two assembly stations each including a slat stacking guide for guiding a slat assembled in said ladder means in a direction transverse to the slat feed direction, lifting means for lifting each successively assembled slat in said transverse direction along said guides to a raised position and over a distance effective to position a next cross rung of each ladder means directly below said slat feed path and means to support the slats in the raised position, wherein the slat stacking guide comprises a fixed support on which said means to support the slats are retractably mounted, guide means associated with said fixed support for slidably guiding two spaced apart vertical stacking arms for upward and downward movement, said arms being spaced apart by a distance substantially equal to said given width and an enlarged space at the upper end of said arms adapted to accommodate a headrail of a different width from the distance between the stacking arms.

With this apparatus, the enlarged space provides a restrictive accommodation for the wider headrail. The headrail itself is caused to rise as the slats are stacked from the bottom and the rising of the headrail, using the apparatus of the invention, causes the stacking guide arms themselves to move upwardly with the slats. This enables the slats to be accurately guided which is particularly suitable on the very narrow gauge blinds which are made of thin slat material.

The enlarged space may be formed by a headrail holder mounted at the upper end of the stacking arms and this may include two members, one mounted on each of the stacking arms, and at least one of these members may be pivotally mounted on the upper end of its associated stacking arms to allow it to be moved away from the other member, whereby a headrail may be introduced into the space.

In order that the present invention may more readily be understood, the following description is given, merely by way of example, reference being made to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is schematic view of one embodiment of apparatus according to the invention; and Figure 2 is an enlarged view of the stacking arms and headrail holder of the apparatus of Figure 1.

The apparatus of the invention has most of the conventional slat feed arrangement used in many known such a structure, for example as in EP-A-0133759. Details of the actual slat feed are not deemed to be necessary here and to the extent that they are necessary the disclosure of EP-A0133759 is incorporated here and by reference.

Figure 1 shows a portion corresponding to Figure 4 of that patent, with a modification of the present invention incorporated in place of the specific disclosure of EP-A0133759.

It will be seen that the slats are fed onto the slat feed support 10 which is connected by a member 12 (Figure 2) to the main machine. The slats are in fact fed between two spaced bar guides 14,16 which are vertically slidable in guide ways shown by chain dotted lines in the slat feed support 10.

A vertically reciprocal lifting element 20 is caused to reciprocate by a reciprocating device 22 having a movable armature or the like 24. The device 22 may, for example, be a linear motor or a pneumatic or hydraulic cylinder. The frame 26 of the apparatus is provided with a vertically adjustable stop member 28 and this cooperates with a limit switch 30 on the lifting members 20 to cause reversal of the device 22.

Figure 1 illustrates a first slat 32 which has been fed between the guide arms 14,16 and is shown being lifted by the lifting members 20. When it has been lifted, it is engaged by retractable pawls 34 carried by the fixed slat feed support 10 and thereby a stack is formed, the top and bottom portion 36,38 of which are illustrated schematically. It will be seen that the top portion 36 immediately abuts a headrail 40 which is accommodated in the headrail holder 42 secured to the top of the arms 14,16 for movement therewith. Thus, as the lifting mechanism 20 rises and pushes the stack 36,38 of slats upwardly, the headrail 40 is pushed upwardly and with it the headrail holder 42 and the stacking arms 14,16.

The actual structure is shown in somewhat more detail in Figure 2 and in this figure the arrangement is shown with the stacking arms and headrail holder in a lower position than in Figure 1. It will be seen that the stacking arms 14,16 are spaced apart by a distance b which corresponds to the width of the slats and that the space 43 which is used to accommodate the headrail 40 (not shown in Figure 2) is spaced apart by a distance B equal to the width of the headrail, this width B being greater than the width b. The headrail holder 42 comprises two pivotal members 44,46 pivoted at points 48,50 to the arms 14,16 respectively, springs 52,54 urging the members 44,46 to the position shown. It will be noted that the upper ends of these members 44,46 are chamfered at 56. When it is desired initially to introduce a headrail or subsequently to remove a headrail with the stacked slats, the members 44,46 are pivoted outwardly to provide adequate clearance for the passage of the headrail.

Figure 2 also illustrates a bottom stop 58 which abuts the lower end of the support 10 and prevents the arms 14,16 from disengaging from their guides 18 and which may be used to de-energise the machine e.g. by means of a microswitch (not shown).

Claims

1. Apparatus for mechanically assembling slats of a venetian blind in ladder means extending from a headrail, said apparatus comprising means for feeding and guiding slat material of a given width longitudinally of its length along a slat feed path, at least two assembly stations each including a slat stacking guide for guiding a slat assembled in said ladder means in a direction transverse to the slat feed direction, lifting means for lifting each successively assembled slat in said transverse direction along said guides to a raised position and over a distance effective to position a next cross rung of each ladder means directly below said slat feed path and means to support the slats in the raised position, wherein the slat stacking guide comprises a fixed support on which said means to support the slats are retractably mounted, guide means associated with said fixed support for slidably guiding two spaced apart vertical stacking arms for upward and downward movement, said arms being spaced apart by a distance substantially equal to said given width and an enlarged space at the upper end of said arms adapted to accommodate a headrail of a different width from the distance between the stacking arms.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said enlarged space is formed by a headrail holder mounted at the upper end of the stacking arms.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said headrail holder includes two members, one mounted on each of said stacking arms, and wherein at least one of said members is pivotally mounted on the upper end of its associated stacking arm to allow it to be moved away from the other member, whereby a headrail may be introduced into said space from above.

4. Apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said at least one member is spring urged to its normal position and is chamfered at its upper end to facilitate introduction from above of a headrail.

5. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein vertical movement of said stacking arms is caused solely by vertical upward stacking movement of said slats 'and thereby vertical upward movement of the headrail which in turn causes vertical upward movement of said stacking arms.

6. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein said stacking arms are each provided with a stop positioned to engage said fixed support when the stacking arms have been raised to the maximum desired height.

7. Apparatus for mechanically assembling slats of a venetian blind in ladder means extending from the headrail, said apparatus being substantially as hereinbefore described, with reference to, and as illustrated in the accompanying drawing.