SE536104C2

SE536104C2 - Window protection system for window and door installation

Info

Publication number: SE536104C2
Application number: SE1130110A
Authority: SE
Inventors: Zoran Maksan
Original assignee: Zoran Maksan
Priority date: 2011-11-09
Filing date: 2011-11-09
Publication date: 2013-05-07
Also published as: SE1130110A1; WO2013068773A1

Abstract

Abstract Blinds system for installation inside or next to a window, the system comprising at least one blindsupporting batten and two elongate and mutually opposed rails (1) arranged to house opposite sidesof the at least one batten (20, 30), wherein both rails (1) include a longitudinal track (2) for housingan end part (21, 22) of the at least one batten (20, 30), the track (2) being formed by a longitudinalback part (3) and at least one longitudinal side part (4, 5) arranged at a right angle, such the endparts (21, 22) of the batten (20, 30) may be slided along said rails (1) in said tracks (2). Thelongitudinal side parts (4, 5) of both rails (1) include a longitudinal blocking strip (6) arranged toblock the corresponding end part (21, 22) of the at least one batten (20, 30) from being withdrawnfrom the track (2), and in that the rail (1) comprises a longitudinal contact surface arranged to be incontact with a corresponding contact piece on the end part of the at least one batten, in order torestrict the longitudinal movement of the batten along the rails. (Figure for publication: 2)

Description

Blinds system for installation in windows and doors Technical field The invention refers to a blinds system for installation inside or next to a window. Specifically, theinvention relates to a blinds system that may be arranged in structure such as a window or a doorwithout interfering with the structure, i.e. without the use of cords or the like arranged in channels inthe window.

Background Conventionally blinds that are arranged in windows are controlled by cords running through channelsinside the window's frame. This implies inter alia that the windows need to be specially adapted tocomply with the conventional blinds system and that a window that is not specially adapted may notbe provided with a conventional blinds system.

Further, problems that appear in the use of freely hanging classic Venetian blinds or pleated blindsusing cords by any means to lift and lower the shade to a desired position and fix it in that certainposition are: relatively complicated mechanisms for their regulation with many moving parts, - a decreased lifetime because of the exposure to all influences, - a total black out option is missing due to cord holes in blades or the pleated material,- in some applications external sash cords getting dirty and worn out, - wind influences negative on the blinds while keeping a window or door open, - cleaning of both windows and blinds, - complex and costly operation to change blades, - from an esthetic perspective cords and wires are hanging alongside the window, and- the mandatory use of cords limits the scope of use.

State of the art Attempts have been made to solve some of the above mentioned problems, but there does not exista system that solves all the mentioned flaws in a simple and financially acceptable way. lt is notpossible to take down whole Venetian blinds to the bottom of the window for insight protection, tofix the blind without the use of cords, to place pleated blinds in a vertical position, nor to obtain totalblack out option in the above mentioned applications. Offered mechanisms are far moremechanically complicated in relation to the invention presented here.

WO 2009/122222 A1 discloses a venetian blinds system with magnetic controller for regulation ofthe angle of the blinds. The system includes an upper and a lower batten which are arranged suchthat they may be individually adjusted upwards and downwards. This system solves some of theproblems presented above. There are however some limitations in the adjustability and the usabilityof the blinds in this system.

Short description of the invention An object of the invention is to improve the adjustability and the usability of the blinds. This isachieved by the inventive blinds system according to claim 1.

The invention relates to a blinds system for installation inside or next to a window, the systemcomprising at least one blinds supporting batten and two elongate and mutually opposed railsarranged to house opposite sides of the at least one batten, wherein both rails include a longitudinaltrack for housing an end part of the at least one batten, the track being formed by a longitudinal backpart and at least one longitudinal side part arranged at a right angle, such the end parts of the battenmay be slided along said rails in said tracks. The longitudinal side parts of both rails include alongitudinal blocking strip arranged to block the corresponding end part of the at least one battenfrom being withdrawn from the track, and in that the rail comprises a longitudinal contact surfacearranged to be in contact with a corresponding contact piece on the end part of the at least onebatten, in order to restrict the longitudinal movement of the batten along the rails.

A first advantage of the invention is that the ends of the movable batten(s) are locked to slide insidethe rails, such that the batten(s) will always be kept orthogonal with respect to the rails. For a blindssystem with horizontal blades this implies that the conventional centre holes through the blades maybe dispensed, because the blades freedom of motion in the horizontal direction will be restricted bythe rails. The invention does not require conventional sash cords as the function of lifting/loweringthe blinds is carried out by the movable battens, to which the blinds is attached. This in turn meansthat the blades are easily replaceable if desired, and that there will be no undesired light emittingholes through the blades. Yet another advantage of the invention is that the blades can be fullyclosed and connected to each other when angled, which a conventional system cannot due to theplacing of sash cords between each blade while angled. Further, the rails present the possibility oflocking the position the battens and the blades without the use of cords and without affecting thestructure, such as e.g. a window, at which the system is arranged.

Technically, the solution presented by this invention has the following advantages in relation to otherexisting solutions; - Easier, faster and cheaper production as the system consists of only few parts and does notrequire holes, strings or wires.

- Easy and quick mounting and set up, - Only few moving parts and very few items and materials comprises a very complex andflexible system which can be used for both Venetian as well as pleated blinds, - Unnecessary use of cords for operation of the blinds subject to wear and tear, - Blinds durability has increased because of the unburden obtained by not using cords forlifting and lowering, - Default black out option in all applications due to no need for holes in the blind and rails sideparts covering the end piece of the blind, - Default guidance of battens and attached shade due to the overlap between the rail and thebatten secured by the locking mechanism, - Default insight protection in all horizontal applications due to the possibility of lowering theupper batten, - Possibility to change blades in a Venetian blind system byjust pulling them out from itscompartment which could be used for quick change of color or structure of the blinds, - A completely new concept of operating and placing interior blinds on a window or door inrelation to the solutions presented on the market, which keeps maintenance and operationalcosts and effort to a minimum.

Brief description of the drawingsHereafter follows a detailed description of the invention with reference to the drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective drawing of the rail, forming a longitudinal track through the design wherethe longitudinal back part, and the longitudinal side parts, together with the blocking strip whichconsists of a rim and a flange, constitutes the longitudinal opening with a channel formed betweenthe rim and the longitudinal back part, Figure 2 shows a top look to the rail structure where it is fully integrated in the frame of a window ordoor with an insulated window pane placed between the inner and outer part of the window frames,where the rail is covered by a plastic cover strip, Figure 3 shows a frontal look to the window with the installed rail system on both sides where a tophorizontal batten are attached and placed half way up on the window and which have a hangingshade mounted and placed between the top and bottom battens, Figure 4 shows a perspective drawing of a window or door which consists of two separate frameswhich are possible to open and close, which together form the window or door, and where the railsystem can be fitted in between the two window panes, where the top and bottom battens keepsthe shade between themselves, Figure 5 shows a frontal look to a window or door where the rail structure is fully integrated in theframe which from four sides are forming a window or door, where the shade and the top batten areslide half way up the window, Figure 6 shows a close up look of Figure 5, Figure 7 shows a top look to the rail with an iron strip inserted in the longitudinal channel formedbetween the rim and the opposed part of the longitudinal back part, Figure 8 shows a perspective look to the batten end where a hole forms a latitudinal casing for amagnet, Figure 9 shows a top look to figure 7 and figure 8 attached to each other, Figure 10 shows a perspective look to the batten end where a hole forms a latitudinal casing for aspiral spring loaded pin, Figure 11 shows a top look to figure 1 and figure 10 attached to each other, Figure 12 shows a perspective look to the batten end where a hole forms an opening to a flat springloaded pin, Figure 13 shows a top look to figure 1 and figure 12 attached to each other,Figure 14 shows a perspective look to a block with a spring loaded pin,Figure 15 shows a top look to figure 1 and figure 14 attached to each other, Figure 16 shows a perspective look to the batten end where a shackle is inserted through the battenwhere the two ends of the shackle sticks out through two holes in the batten, Figure 17 shows a side looks through the rail's longitudinal back part where figure 15 and figure 16are attached to each other, Figure 18 shows a perspective drawing of Venetian blinds with its blades carried in separatecompartments by the ladders carrying ropes.

Detailed description of the best mode of invention Figure 3 shows a schematic view of a blinds system in accordance with one embodiment of theinvention installed next to a window. The shown system comprises two blinds supporting battens 20and 30 and two elongate and mutually opposed rails 1 arranged to house opposite sides of thebattens 20 and 30.

The rails are shown in detail in figure 1. Both rails 1 include a longitudinal track 2 for housing an endpart 21, 22 of the battens 20, 30. The track 2 is formed by a longitudinal back part 3 and twolongitudinal side parts 4 and 5 arranged at a right angle with respect to the back part 3. The end parts21, 22 of the batten 20, 30 may be slided along said rails in said tracks 2. The longitudinal side part 4of both rails 1 include a longitudinal blocking strip 6 arranged to block the corresponding end part 21,22 of the at least one batten 20, 30 from being withdrawn from the track 2. Further, the rail 1comprises a longitudinal contact surface arranged to be in contact with a corresponding contactpiece on the end part of the at least one batten, in order to restrict the longitudinal movement of thebatten along the rails.

As shown in figure 1 each rail may comprise two mutually opposed longitudinal side parts 4, 5, whichare interconnected at their back end by the longitudinal back part 3, such that the track 2 is formedin a longitudinal opening 7 at the front end of the longitudinal side parts 4, 5.

Further, in the shown embodiment, the longitudinal blocking strip 6 is formed by a longitudinal rim 8that extends from a first of the two longitudinal side parts 4 in parallel with the longitudinal back part 3 and towards the opposed second longitudinal side part 5, such that the rim 8 covers part of thelongitudinal opening of the track 2 and such that a channel 9 is formed between the rim 8 and theopposed part of the longitudinal back part 3. The blocking strip may however be formed by alongitudinal track, a longitudinal protrusion or the like. The function of the blocking strip is to makesure that the end part of the batten will not s|ip out of the rai|'s channel without manipulation.

Further, the rim 8 includes a flange 10 that extends from the rim 8 in parallel with the first of thelongitudinal side parts 4 and towards the longitudinal back part 3. ln an advantageous embodiment the rails 1 are formed of aluminium profiles, e.g. extrudedaluminium profiles.

According to a first embodiment, shown in figures 7-9, the rails 1 comprises a longitudinal iron strip15. Correspondingly, the end parts 21, 22 of the battens 20, 30 are provided with a magnet 16arranged to bond to the longitudinal iron strip 15 in order to restrict the longitudinal movement ofthe battens 20, 30 along the rails 1. ln order to move the battens the magnetic force between the iron strip 15 and the magnet 16 needsto be overcome. Hence, the magnet should be strong enough to hold the weight of the batten andthe blinds, but not too strong so as to produce an obstacle for the operator wanting to adapt theposition of the battens. The strength required of the magnets is something that may be easilyelaborated by the skilled person. ln a second embodiment of the invention, shown in figures 10-11, the end parts 21, 22 of the batten20, 30 includes blind hole 25 in which a spring loaded pin 26 is arranged, which pin 26 includes afriction generating head 27 arranged to be pressed against the first longitudinal side part 4 by theaction of a spring 28, 29 when the batten is arranged inside the track 1. ln both of these embodiments the friction generating head 27 of the pin may be made of PVC. ln figures 14-17 a fourth embodiment is shown. According to this embodiment the system includes aspring fitted block 31 that fits tightly inside the rai|'s 1 channel 9. The block 31 includes a main body32 with a spring loaded cap 33. The main body 32 and the cap 33 are pressed in opposite directionstowards the rim 8 and the opposed part of the longitudinal back part 3, respectively, such that theblock 31 is held still due to the interaction between the block 31 and the rail1. Further the block 31 isconnectable to the batten 20, 30, in order to selectively locate the batten along the rail 1.

As shown in figure 16 the batten 20, 30 includes an opening 35, 36 for housing a shackle 37, whichmay fixed in a position where it connects to the spring fitted block 31 in order to lock the batten 20along the rail 1 by said connection to the spring fitted block 31.

The shackle 37 comprises two substantially parallel arms 38, 39 that are to be arranged on oppositesides of the spring fitted block 31, in order to form the connection there between.

The rails 1 may preferably be arranged vertically. ln a vertical arranged system a number of blades 51may be interconnected by means of a string ladder 70 including a compartment for each blade 51.The string ladder 70 is arranged to be held up by an upper batten 20, and a lower batten 30 is arranged to support the string ladder 70 from below and restrict the downward extension of theblade holding ladder.

Further, the blades 51 are freely held by a carrying rope 71 inside the compartments of the ladder 70without perforation for strings, such that no light emitting through holes are provided in the blades,and such that the blades 51 may be individually pulled out of their respective compartment.

As illustrated in e.g. figures 3-5, the rails of the blinds system may be arranged along two oppositesides of a window 60. Of course, the rails 1 may be arranged between the two panes 61, 62 of the window 60 as illustrated in figure 4.

List of references gsowﬂøﬂsﬂewwee lJU'l IJOW N)O N)lJ N)N) N)U'l N)OW N)\l N)00 N)LO UJO U-)lJ UJN) UJUJ UJU'l UJ03 UJ\l UJOO UJLO U'lO U'llJ CDO OWIJ Rail Longitudinal track inside the railLongitudinal back part of the railLongitudinal side part of the rail, rearLongitudinal side part of the rail, frontLongitudinal blocking strip of the railLongitudinal opening in the railLongitudinal rim Longitudinal channel . Longitudinal flange. Longitudinal iron strip. Magnet . Bottom batten . Left end of batten . Right end of batten . Hole . Pin . Head .Spiral spring . Flat spring .Top batten . Block . Block main body.Spring loaded cap.Opening in batten.Opening in batten . Shackle . Arm, upper . Arm, lower . Blinds (Venetian or pleated). Blades .Window frame.Window pane, inner 62. Window pane, outer63. lnsulated window pane70. Ladder 71. Carrying rope

Claims

m

1. Blinds system for installation inside or next to a window, the system comprising at least oneblinds supporting batten and two elongate and mutually opposed rails (1) arranged to houseopposite sides of the at least one batten (20, 30), wherein both rails (1) include a longitudinal track(2) for housing an end part (21, 22) of the at least one batten (20, 30), the track (2) being formed by alongitudinal back part (3) and at least one longitudinal side part (4, 5) arranged at a right angle, suchthe end parts (21, 22) of the batten (20, 30) may be slided along said rails (1) in said tracks (2),characterised in that the longitudinal side parts (4, 5) of both rails (1) include a longitudinal blockingstrip (6) arranged to block the corresponding end part (21, 22) of the at least one batten (20, 30)from being withdrawn from the track (2), and in that the rail (1) comprises a longitudinal contactsurface arranged to be in contact with a corresponding contact piece on the end part of the at leastone batten, in order to restrict the longitudinal movement of the batten along the rails.

2. Blinds system according to claim 1, wherein each rail comprises two mutually opposedlongitudinal side parts (4, 5), which are interconnected at their back end by the longitudinal back part(3) such that the track (2) is formed in a longitudinal opening (7) at the front end of the longitudinalside parts (4, 5).

3. Blinds system according to claim 2, wherein the longitudinal blocking strip (6) is formed by alongitudinal rim (8) that extends from a first of the two longitudinal side parts (4) in parallel with thelongitudinal back part (3) and towards the opposed second longitudinal side part (5), such that therim (8) covers part of the longitudinal opening of the track (2) and such that a channel (9) is formedbetween the rim (8) and the opposed part of the longitudinal back part (3).

4. Blinds system according to claim 3, wherein the rim (8) includes a flange (10) that extendsfrom the rim (8) in parallel with the first of the longitudinal side parts (4) and towards thelongitudinal back part (3).

5. Blinds system according to claim 4, wherein the rails (1) are formed of aluminium profiles.

6. Blinds system according to claim 5, wherein the rails (1) comprises a longitudinal iron strip(15), and wherein the end parts (21, 22) of the at least one batten (20, 30) are provided with amagnet (16) arranged to bond to the longitudinal iron strip (15) in order to restrict the longitudinalmovement of the at least one batten (20, 30) along the rails (1).

7. Blinds system according to any of the claims 4 or 5, wherein the end parts (21, 22) of thebatten (20, 30) includes blind hole (25) in which a spring loaded pin (26) is arranged, which pin (26)includes a friction generating head (27) arranged to be pressed against the first longitudinal side part(4) by the action of a spring (28, 29) when the batten is arranged inside the track (1).

8. Blinds system according to claim 7, wherein the friction generating head (27) of the pin ismade of PVC.

9. Blinds system according to any of the claims 4 or 5, wherein the system further includes a spring fitted block (31) that fits tightly inside the rail's (1) channel (9), which block (31) includes amain body (32) with a spring loaded cap (33), and wherein the main body (32) and the cap (33) arepressed in opposite directions towards the rim (8) and the opposed part of the longitudinal back part (3), respectively, such that the block (31) is held still due to the interaction between the block (31)and the rail (1), wherein the block (31) is connectable to the batten (20, 30), in order to selectivelylocate the batten along the rail (1).

10. Blinds system according to claim 9, wherein the batten (20, 30) further includes an opening(35, 36) for housing a shackle (37), which may fixed in a position where it connects to the springfitted block (31) in order to lock the batten (20) along the rail (1) by said connection to the springfitted block (31).

11. Blinds system according to claim 9, wherein the shackle (37) comprises two substantiallyparallel arms (38, 39) that are to be arranged on opposite sides of the spring fitted block (31), inorder to form the connection there between.

12. Blinds system according to anyone of the preceding claims, wherein the rails (1) are arrangedvertically and wherein the system includes a number of blades (50) which are interconnected bymeans of a string ladder including a compartment for each blade (50), the string ladder beingarranged to be held up by an upper batten (20), and a lower batten (30) being arranged to supportthe string ladder from below and restrict the downward extension of the blade holding ladder.

13. Blinds system according to claim 12, wherein the blades are freely held inside thecompartments of the ladder without perforation for strings, such that no light emitting through holesare provided in the blades, and such that the blades may be individually pulled out of their respectivecompartment.

14. Blinds system according to anyone of the preceding claims, wherein the rails (1) are arrangedalong two opposite sides of a window (60).

15. Blinds system according to claim 14, wherein the rails (1) are arranged between two panes (61,62) of the window (60).

16. Blind system according to claim 14 or 15, wherein the rails (1) are an integrated part of awindow frame.

17. Blind system according to claim 16, wherein the rails (1) are arranged at all four sides of thesaid frame.