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Patents Form # 5
NEW ZEALAND Patents Act 1953
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
TITLE
APPLICATION# FILING DATE
Blind Cord Fastener 328531
11 August 1997
We, Rowland Malcolm Church and Jane Susan Church both New Zealand
Citizens and both of 28 Trelawny Place, Glenfield, Auckland, New Zealand hereby declare the invention, for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement
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FEE CODE - 1050
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BLIND CORD FASTENER
1
FIELD
This invention relates to bhnd cord fasteners, and is applicable particularly, but not exclusively, to fasteners to be used on the cords of Venetian blinds
BACKGROUND
Fasteners of various types to be used on Venetian blind cords are already known However, they tend to be time consuming to fit, to require skill in fitting, to be difficult to adjust, to catch on the slats of the bhnd or to become entangled with the bhnd cords
OBJECT
It is an object of the invention to avoid some of these disadvantages STATEMENT OF THE INVENTION
According to one aspect ot the present invention there is provided a bhnd cord fastener including first and second co-operating bodies, which bodies hinged together and relatively moveable between an open position in which a bhnd cord can be positioned between the 15 bodies, and a closed position in which the bodies are fastened together to trap the cord therebetween
Preferably the bodies are hinged together at one side edge
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Conveniently the bodies are held in said closed position by a catch means Advantageously the hinge and/cr the catch means are formed integral with the bodies Conveniently the bodies are a one-piece plastics moulding
Preferably the bodies are formed with a hole at the top and/or bottom through which the cord 5 can pass
The bodies may be provided with aligned internal features, adapted, when in the closed position, to trap the cord between said features
Conveniently the bodies are substantially hollow and the features comprise mutually aligned bars or shelves
Preferably a protrusion is provided within one or both of said bodies, around which protrusion a loop of the cord can be passed
Advantageously, the protrusion extends outwards from within one of said bodies past a joint face between the bodies
Conveniently the protrusion, in said closed position of the bodies, abuts part of the other of 15 said bodies, to inhibit escape of the cord loop from the protrusion The part of the other body may be a further protrusion adapted to abut said protrusion end-to-end in the closed position
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Preferably the abutting ends of the protrusions inter-engage or interlock in the closed position
Preferably in the closed position the external surface of the blind cord fastener is smoothly shaped and is preferably spherical or ellipsoidal
According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a Venetian blind to one or more cords of which one or more of the abovementioned blind cord fasteners is fastened
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
One embodiment of the invention is described by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which
FIG 1 is an elevation of a window fitted with a typical Venetian blind and is diagrammatic only,
FIG 2 is a perspective view at enlarged scale of a blind cord fastener, according to the invention, in an open position,
FIG 3 is a perspective view of the blind cord fastener of Figure 2, in a closed position, and FIG 4 is a transverse section in a central plane including the minor axis of Figure 3
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In Figure 1 a typical window 10 has a peripheral frame 11 The window 10 is fitted with a normal Venetian blind 12, comprising essentially an array of parallel slats 13 of adjustable inclination
The slats 13 can be raised or lowered, as required, by a transverse bottom bar 14 carried on 5 typically four cords 15,16, 17, IS which pass down through the centre of the slats 13 and are knotted below the bar 14 In other arrangements of the cords 15, 16, 17, IS only one length of cord is used, passing along beneath the bar 14 as appropriate, instead of being knotted there
The cords 15, 16, 17, IS pass over pulleys, rollers, bars 19 or the like Two of the cords, 16, 10 IS are part of one length of cord including a longer loop 20 The remaining cords 15, 17 are part of another length of cord including a shorter loop 21
For tidiness and ease of use, the bottom of the shorter loop 21 and parts of the longer loop 20 adjacent thereto are held together by a fastener of small dimensions The bottom of the longer loop 20, which may include a knot, is frequently provided with a small knob
Figures 2, 3 and 4 show a blind cord fastener 22, according to the invention It is a one-piece plastics moulding of smooth exterior shape, being preferably ellipsoidal or spherical and conveniently having a major axis in the region of 20 mm long
The fastener 22 is of two substantially identical halves 23, 24 in the form of rigid shells, joined by an integral web of plastics along part of one edge, to act as a hinge 25 The 20 opposite edge of the half 23 is formed with a resilient hook-like catch 26 The edge of the
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other half 24 opposing the catch 26 is formed with a recess 27 into which the catch 26 can spring to retain the halves 23, 24 together when the halves 23, 24 abut after being closed about the hinge 25
The fastener 22 has a hole 2S at the top through which the cords 15, 16, 17, IS can enter, the 5 cords 16, IS passing out through a hole 29 in the bottom The shorter loop 21 is hooked over a peg 30, when the halves 23, 24 are open, the peg 30 being integral with the half 23 and protruding outwards past the face 31 thereof When the fastener 22 is closed, the outer end of the peg 30 abuts an opposing end of a shorter peg 32 within the half 24 to retain the shorter loop 21, when the fastener 22 is closed
Each half 23, 24 is formed with aligned abutments in the form of four bars or shelves 33, some or all of which are recessed back from the face 31 and the face 34 of the half 24, by an amount sufficient to allow the cords 15, 16, 17, IS to be securely gripped between the edges of the shelves 33 when the fastener 22 is closed
In Figure 4, the outer end of the peg 30 has a conical form and engages in a co-acting conical 15 recess in the end of the shorter peg 32 Thereby, the loop 21 is prevented from passing through any gap between the ends of the pegs 30, 32 and the peg 30 is supported by the peg 32, for extra strength It will be seen that the co-acting faces of the catch 26 and the recess 27 ha\e sloping faces Thereby, the catch 26 can be disengaged from the recess 27 by a coin or tool inserted in a further recess 35 in one or both of the halves 23, 24
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The form of fastener described above is relatively quick and easy to fjt, since no knots are required in the cords 15, 16, 17, IS Being symmetrical top-to-bottom it can be fitted either way up and by a right-handed or left-handed person The same fastener can be used to fasten the four cords 15, 16, 17, IS at the bottom of the shorter loop 21 or as a knob at the bottom of 5 the longer loop 20
In use, the shorter loop 21 is slipped over the peg 30 and the fastener 22 pulled down until the cords 15, 17 are lightly tensioned and equalised The cords 16, 18 are lightly tensioned and the halves 23, 24 then snapped together to grip all the cords 15, 16, 17, IS The bottom ends of the longer cords 16, IS need not even be tied together or form a loop in order to be 10 gripped by the fastener 22
Instead of using the hinge 25, both edges of the fastener can be fitted with catches 26 and recesses 27, the halves 23, 24 being separated
A suitable polyester has been found as an appropriate plastics material
Although the application has been described with reference to Venetian blinds, clearly the 15 invention can be used on the cords of other blinds, such as Concertina , Roman, Austrian or other types
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