GB2275600A - D.I.Y. curtain pole assembly kit - Google Patents

Abstract

The kit comprises two wooden elbows 3 having a preset curvature and initially extending over 90 DEG and a combined template and culling guide, Fig 3, which enables easy measurement of the angles of the bay window and culling of the elbows to the required length and angle. The guide may have a hole 8 in lug 8 for receiving an elbow 3 and two sectors A and B, possibly pivoted at D, which allow the relevant angular measurement. Means, e.g. double ended screws 4, are included to enable the cut elbows to be connected to the adjacent straight pole lengths (2a, 2b) which may or may not be part of the kit, along with support brackets. <IMAGE>

Description

CURTAIN POLE ASSEMBLY This invention relates to wooden curtain poles for bay windows.

The fitting of a wooden curtain pole to a bay window gives rise to two main problems: adequate support for the pole at the two angles of the bay, and a smooth transition for the curtain rings at those two points.

Both problems can be solved, or at least avoided, by the positioning of additional support brackets at those points but that is not always an appropriate solution, especially as it means providing four separate curtains across the bay, not two.

Other problems also arise, especially for a householder who wishes to instal a wooden curtain rack in a bay window using one of the complete curtain rail kits that are now commonly available, those problems again arising mainly at the two angles of the bay.

In one aspect the present invention seeks to provide a wooden curtain pole assembly for a bay window, either assembled, or as a kit, which provides improved support for the pole at the angles of the bay, and a smooth transition for the curtain rings at those two points.

In another aspect the present invention provides an improved kit which simplifies the installation of such a wooden curtain pole in a bay window.

Broadly speaking, in accordance with the first aspect, the bay window wooden curtain pole assembly, or kit, of this invention comprises an additional support bracket for the installed pole at each end of the bay, the pole thus being supported by a single bracket at the middle of the bay in the customary way, and by a pair of brackets at each end spaced a small distance apart one from the other. That arrangement significantly reduces the tendency of the installed pole to sag at the unsupported angles of the bay. Additionally, two curved wooden connecting pieces or elbows are provided for installation at the corners of the bay to connect together the straight lengths of the pole in one continuous curve, those wooden elbows being of the same diameter as the pole itself.

Whilst the individual parts of the pole assembly may be supplied to the user individually, that user being able to choose the correct length and radius elbow from a selection of such elbows of different lengths and radii, in the preferred aspect, the present invention provides a substantially universal bay window curtain pole kit which enables the user to determine for himself the angle required for the elbow at each angle of the bay and to cut an elbow of the desired angle from a curved elbow provided as part of the kit using a template and cutting guide provided as part of the kit. Means are provided for connecting the straight pole lengths to the elbows, that means preferably being a double ended screw, one end of which can be screwed into the end of pole and the other into the end of the elbow.The double ended screw may be screwed directly into the wood, or into an internally threaded insert inserted into the end face of the pole or the elbow or both.

The template and cutting guide provided in the kit for measuring the angle of the bay and enabling the cutting of an elbow of the required angle takes the form of a two-piece protractor which the user may use to measure the angle of the bay, to mark that angle on the protractor, and then to use that mark to cut the preformed elbow to provide the desired angle.

Whilst the mounting or support brackets for the pole may be of the ring type, preferably they are of the open type, so that the pole can be assembled on the floor and then dropped into the brackets prepositioned on the wall above the window opening. The pole is then secured in each bracket in known manner.

The invention is further described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic view of a wooden curtain pole assembly according to this invention installed in a bay window and looking down on the assembly from above.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of one of the corners, part broken away to show the connecting screw.

Fig. 3 is a view of the template and cutting guide used to cut elbows of the required angle.

Fig. 4 is a view of the elbow before cutting to the required angle.

Referring to Fig. 1, this shows a view from above of a wooden curtain pole assembly according to one aspect of this invention installed in a bay window 1. The curtain pole has three straight sections 2a, 2b, 2c connected one to the other at the angle of the bay by two wooden elbows 3 of the same diameter as the pole. The manner of connection is shown in Fig. 2 and comprises a double ended screw 4 threadedly engaged in threaded metal inserts 5a, Sb in the abutting faces of the elbow 3 and the pole. Alternatively, connector 4 may be a double ended wood screw screwed directly into the end face of the pole and the end face of the elbows1 i.e. the threaded inserts Sa, 5b are not essential.

In accordance with the invention the pole is supported by five mounting brackets 6, not the usual three, i.e. one at the centre of the bay and two at each end. The two at each end are located a small distance apart, e.g. about 10 cms. Although closed ring brackets may be used, open brackets are preferred so that the various sections of the pole can be assembled on the floor and then dropped into position in the prepositioned brackets.

Set screws or bolts will be provided in a conventional manner to secure the pole to the brackets.

As will be apparent, the curved elbows 3, provide a smooth track for the curtain rings around the angles of the pole in the corners of the bay, whilst the extra mounting brackets provide additional support for the pole, and reduce or prevent sagging of the pole at the angles.

As already indicated, the bay window wooden curtain pole assembly of the present invention will usually be in the form of a kit for assembly and fitting by the user himself. That kit will usually comprise at least the elbows and the connectors, and may or may not, but usually will, comprise the other items, namely the mounting brackets. the individual poles, the filials, and fixing screws etc.

etc. In the preferred aspect, the elbows included within that kit will initially be in the form of elbows subtending an internal angle larger than that required, e.g. a 900 elbow as shown in Fig. 4. Using the template shown in Fig. 3, the user can then cut that elbow to the angle required. This template consists of a two-piece protractor having two sectors A and B, the one movable relative to the other in the direction of the double head arrow C about the point D.

The two sectors, of stiff cardboard, plastics sheet or other similar material may or may not be pivotally connected to each other at D. The sector A has an upstanding lug 8 with circular hole 9 therein equal to the external diameter of the curtain pole and the elbows, the function and purpose of that lug being described subsequently. The two sectors A and B are each bounded by a straight edge which between them form a variable angle a.

To measure the angle of the bay and the required angle for the elbow the user introduces the protractor into the angle of the bay, pivots sector B relative to A until the straight edges of each sector are parallel to the walls of the bay, at which point angle a equals the angle of the bay, and the required angle of the elbow. The user marks that position on sector A as shown on the drawing by the heavy line X X.

The user then introduces the 900 elbow 3 through the hole 9 in the upstanding lug 8 until the end of the elbow abuts the line X-X, as shown in phantom in Fig. 3 and saws off the end which projects from the sector A through the hole 9 beyond the lug 8 and using the lug 8 as a guide. The piece cut off 10 will be an elbow of the required angle, i.e. a curved elbow the opposite ends of which subtend an angle a equal to the angle of the bay.

The user then drills a hole in the cut end of the elbow, inserts the internally threaded "insert", or not as the case may be, and then screws the elbow onto one end of the double screw connector, ready for connection of the elbow to the adjacent pole length in the manner described. Usually, but not necessarily, the uncut end of the 900 elbow will already have a preformed end hole for the connector at the opposite end, with or without the internally threaded insert.

Using the template in the manner described, first to measure the angle of the bay, and then as a cutting guide to cut the elbow to the required angle, the user can assemble the complete curtain pole very easily prior to mounting the preassembled angulated pole to the prepositioned brackets. The kit will thus be universally usable with bay windows of many different angles.

Whilst the invention has been described with reference to a particular embodiment, it will be understood that numerous modifications may be made in that embodiment and in the practice of the invention, without departing from the use of the invention herein described and hereinafter claimed.

Claims (12)

CLAIMS:

1. A kit for the assembly and fitting of a wooden curtain pole to a bay window, said kit comprising a pair of curved wooden elbows each having a diameter equal to the diameter of the curtain pole itself, means for connecting those elbows at their opposite ends to adjacent straight lengths of wooden curtain pole, a template for measuring the angles of the bay, that template also serving as a cutting guide whereby the said elbows may b cut to the required angle.

2. A kit according to claim 1, wherein the elbows are 900 elbows.

3. A kit according to claim 1 or 3, wherein the template comprises a two-piece protractor, having two overlying sectors each providing a straight edge together subtending a variable angle a, the two sectors being arcuately moveable one across the other so that the straight edges lie parallel to adjoining wall of the bay, the angle a then equalling the angle of the bay, the two sectors in that position then being usable as a cutting guide to cut the said elbow to the required angle.

4. A kit according to claim 3, wherein one of the two sectors of the template carried an upstanding lug with an aperture therein equal to the cross sectional diameter of the elbow, and through which the elbow is inserted for the purposes of determining the point at which the elbow is to be cut, that lug serving also as a cutting guide for the elbow to the required angle.

5. A kit according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the means for connecting the elbows to the straight lengths of curtain poles comprise double threaded screws threadedly engageable each into one end of the elbow and into the end of the adjacent pole.

6. A kit according to claim 5, wherein said connecting means are double threaded wood screws which engage directly into the end of the elbow and the adjacent end of the pole.

7. A kit according to claim 5, wherein said double threaded screws are engageable into internally threaded metal inserts inserted or insertable into drilled blind holes in the respective end face of the elbow and/or of the adjacent pole.

8. A kit according to any one of claims 1 to 7 additionally connecting three individual lengths of straight wooden curtain pole for interconnection by the said elbows to form the complete angulated curtain pole, plus the brackets for mounting the assembled angulated curtain pole in the bay window.

9. A kit according to claim 8, which contains five mounting brackets, one positionable at the cent of the bay, and the others positionable in pairs adjacent the opposite end of the assembled angulated curtain pole.

10. A kit according to claim 9 wherein said brackets are of the open type into which the preassembled angulated pole can be inserted from above.

11. A wooden curtain pole assembly for a bay window, said assembly comprising three straight lengths of wooden curtain pole, two curved wooden elbows having the same external diameter as the poles and each connected or connectable between the adjacent ones of the said three straight poles to provide a smooth curve therebetween, and five mounting brackets for mounting the curtain pole to the bay window, one at the centre of the bay and two at each end.

12. A wooden curtain pole assembly according to claim 11 wherein said brackets are of the open type into which the preassembled angulated pole can be inserted from above.