GB2483451A

GB2483451A - Hooks for supporting Roman blind pleats

Info

Publication number: GB2483451A
Application number: GB1014863.3A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Guido Tants; Jens Wunsche
Original assignee: Hunter Douglas Industries Switzerland GmbH
Current assignee: Hunter Douglas Industries Switzerland GmbH
Priority date: 2010-09-07
Filing date: 2010-09-07
Publication date: 2012-03-14
Also published as: EP2426307A3; GB201014863D0; EP2426307A2

Abstract

A pleated blind comprising a head rail (10 Fig 1), a bottom rail (11) and an expandable and collapsible pleated shade (12) with a plurality of pleats 13; the head rail and/or the bottom rail being movable in order to expand and collapse the pleated shade; the blind further comprising first cord 15 and at least one support cord 17 having a plurality of equally spaced hook shaped support members 18 for supporting the pleats of the shade 12. Preferably the hooks are attached to the first cord and the width of the slit on the hook member 18 is smaller than the diameter of the first cord 15.

Description

Support Member for a Pleated Blind Qç.c r i_p t i 0 n

FIELD

The invention relates to a pleated blind comprising a head rail, a bottom rail and an expandable and collapsible pleated shade with a plurality of pleads and which is arranged between the head rail and the bottom rail; the head rail and/or the bottom rail being movable in order to expand and collapse the pleated shade; the blind further comprising first cords and at least one support cord having a plurality of equally spaced support members for supporting the pleats of the shade.

BACKGROUND

Such a pleated blind is known from US 5,901,767 A as well as from US 6,401,789 81.

Pleated blinds are well known in the art for many years. They are one of different types of coverings for an architectural opening, so called window shades. The pleated shade of the blind is divided into a plurality of pleats by fold lines. Due to the weight of the shade the shade tends to sag. That is that the weight pulls the top position of the shade into a substantially planner configuration with a bigger vertical distance between the fold lines than at the bottom position of the shade. This is considered to be unesthetical and, as a result, undesirable.

In order to avoid this drawback US 5,901,767 discloses a support cord having a plurality of equally spaced rungs. The rungs are arranged perpendicular to the cord itself but being twistable around to lie parallel to the cord. Now the support cord may be inserted into apertures in each of the pleats of the shade whereby the rungs move back into their position perpendicular to the cord so that the pleat is supported by the respective rung.

I

Another solution to avoid the above mentioned drawback is disclosed in US 6,401,789 B 1. The support cord has a plurality of support members having a T-shaped connecting portion. This connecting portion passes through an aperture in some of the pleats of the shade at the fold lines as it is known from attaching labels to closing. The support member further comprises an engagement portion integrally connected to the T-shaped connecting portion. This engagement portion is formed as a closed loop. These ioops are threaded on to one of the first cords.

Both solutions reliably solve the problem of sagging of the shade due to its weight.

However, a drawback of both solutions is that the support cord has to be attached to the shade or the first cord at the stage of assembly of the entire blind. This complicates the assembly of the blind and is time-consuming and, as a result, costly in terms of labor. Furthermore, it has to be decided in the stage of assembly of the blind whether or not a support cord shall be employed or not. Finally, the entire blind has to be dissembled and reassembled in the unlikely event that a support cord is to be replaced.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the invention to provide a pleated blind addressing the problem of sagging of the shade wherein the assembly of the blind is easier and time efficient and wherein the assembly of the support cord after the final assembly of the blind itself is possible.

To achieve this object the pleated blind according to the invention is characterized in that the support members are hook members.

Hook members have an open hook which may be attached to an associated first cord or to the shade itself at anytime, e.g. after final assembly of the blind itself The hook members can be hooked on to the shade or the cord very easily and makes the assembly very time and cost efficient. Replacement of the support cord for repair purpose is possible without any further disassembly of the blind.

S

The easiest way of attaching the support cord is that the hook members are attached to the associated first cord. This is much easier than attaching the same to the shade itself The hook members have an open hook including a small slit. The width of this slit S should smaller then diameter of the first cord to prevent unintentional unhooking from the first cord.

It is furthermore advantageously to arrange the support cord on the backside of the shade so that it is not visible. As a result the appearance of the blind is not affected at all. If, at the same, the hook members are attached to the associated first cord, the support cord is not visible at all. In terms of this disclosure "backside" is the side of the shade facing to the window to be covered by the pleated blind.

These and other aspects of the invention will be discussed more detailed with reference to the drawing. It will be appreciated that the drawings and their description are presented for illustration purposes only and may not be used to unlimiting the scope of the independent claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Fig. I is a perspective view of a pleated blind incorporating the features of the invention, Fig. 2 is a detailed perspective view II of the pleated blind of Fig. I.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Fig. I illustrates a pleated blind comprising an upper head rail I 0 and a lower bottom rail 11. An expandable and collapsible pleated shade 12 is arranged between the head rail and the bottom rail 11. The pleated shade is divided into a plurality of pleats 13 by fold lines 14.

S

The shown pleated blind is of the type where the head rail 10 is mounted to a wall or ceiling of a building or to an embrasure. The bottom rail 11 can be lifted or lowered to expand or collapse the pleated shade 12. However, there are pleated blinds known in the art where the bottom rail 11 is fixed while the head rail 10 is moveable to collapse S or expand the pleated shade 12. Furthermore pleated blinds are known where both rails 10, 11 are moveable. This type of blind allows the user to freely position the shade 12 along the window to achieve a desired shading.

As illustrated in Fig. 1 a first left and a first right cord 15 is provided. The first cords 15 are threaded through an aperture 16 provided in the pleats 13 of the shade 12 as can be seem best from Fig. 2. The purpose of this first cord 15 is to lift and lower the bottom rail 11 and thereby expand or collapse the shade 12. However, in other types of pleated blinds, for example those mentioned above, like cords are provided to sustain the head rail 10 and/or the bottom rail 11 in the position adjusted by the user and/or to sustain the shade 12 which is especially required if larger blinds are used with roof lights. Second left and right cords are attached to the head rail, herein after referred as the support cords 17. The support cords 17 are fixed to the head rail 10 and extend parallel to the first cords 15 and in the same plane perpendicular to the plane of the shade 12 as the associated first cord 15.

A plurality of equally spaced support members 18 are provided on the support cords 17. One end of each support member 18 is fixed to the associated support cord 17 while the other end has an open hook 19. Thus, these support members 18 are hook members.

The open hook 19 of the support members 18 includes a small slit 20 through which the support element 18 can be hooked to or unhooked from the associated first cord 15.

The width of this slit 20 is smaller than the diameter of the first cord 15 to prevent unintentional unhooking from the first cord 15 but other means to prevent unintentional unhooking may be employed as well. The hook may preferably be resilient.

S

A predetermined number of support members 18 are attached to the support cord 17.

In the embodiment shown one support member 18 is provided for every second pair of pleats 13. This is usually fully sufficient to support the shade 12 and prevent sagging of the shade 12. However, if a very heavy material is used for the shade, support elements 17 may be provided for every pair of pleats 13, or if a very light material is used, support member 18 for every third pair of pleats 13 or even less may be provided.

The support cords 18 should be arranged on the side of the pleated shade 12 facing to the window which may be considered as the back side of the blind.

R e f e r e n c e _N u m e r a 1 s Head rail 11 Bottom rail 12 Shade 13 Pleat 14 Fold line Cord 16 Aperture 17 Support cord 18 Support member 19 Hook Slit

Claims

Claimsll 1. A pleated blind comprising a head rail, a bottom rail and an expandable and collapsible pleated shade with a plurality of pleats and arranged between the head S rail and the bottom rail; the head rail and/or the bottom rail being movable in order to expand and collapse the pleated shade; the blind fbrther comprising first cords and at least one support cord having a plurality of equally spaced support members for supporting the pleats of the shade; characterized in that the support members are hook members.
2. A pleated blind according to claim 1, characterized in that the hook members are attachable to one of the associated first cord.
3. A pleated blind according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the width of a slit provided in each hook of the hook member is smaller than the diameter of the first cords.
4. A pleated blind according to any one of the claims 1 through 3, characterized in that the support cord is arranged on a back side of the shade.
5. A pleated blind constructed and arranged substantially as hereinbcfore described with reference to and as illustrated by the accompanying drawings.