US1772493A - Tilting device for venetian blinds - Google Patents

Description

- Aug. 12, 1930. F, LEE-PER 1,772,493

TILTING DEVICE FOR VENETIAN BL'INDS Filed April 1?, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. 7'70/7 k 1. e eper' A TTORNEYS Au 12, 1930. FLEEPER. 1,772,493

TILTING DEVICE FOR VENETIAN BLINDS Filed April 17, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. Wank A eeper M W W A TTORNEY-5 Patented Aug. 12, 1930 UNITED STATES FRANK PATENT OFFICE.

warns, on sAnmAnmo. CALIFORNIA, assreuon r conuivmm mus mconrona'rnn. or raw max, 1:. Y., A CORPORATION or NEW YORK TILTING DEVICE FOR VENETIAN BLINDS Application filed r m 17,

This invention relates to a device for. mounting the tilt rail or top slat of a Venetian blind, and the principal object of the manually operated means for tilting said de-' vice and means whereby operation of said manually operated means acts to release said catch means and permit the desired'tilting I to be effected. The construction of the device is such that the force which is applied to efliect the desired tilting acts first to release the catch means and then to tilt the blind to the desired extent, while-the withdrawal of corner of the blind at which the tiltlng desuch force causes the catch means to again engage and hold the blind in the new position.

Blinds of the type" known as Venetian blinds are adapted to be mounted in windows or doors or in any location in which it is de- 3 sired to control the admission of light A through an opening, and compri'sein general a plurality of flat strips or slats extending transversely of the window or other opening and disposed one above the other so as to pro- I vide spaces therebetween, and means for tilting said slats in either direction fromthe 'horizontal so as to control the admission of light/through said spaces. Means are also V "provided for raising and lowering the blind,-

' which is accomplished by simply raising the 'lowermosts'lat and each succeeding slat up 2 against the next higher slats until the desired height is reached. The means for tilting theslats ordinarily comprise m'eans' operated by cords or the like to tilt the topmost slat or'tilt rail and flexible straps of cloth or thelike securing or operatively connecting- ='the tilt rail to all of the other slats so as to cause all of the slats to be tilted with the 1928. Serial No. 270,042.

According to this invention the tilting of the tilt rail is efiected by pulling upon one end or the other of a tilting cord which runs over suitable pulley means and is operatively connected to a tilting member securedto the. tilt rail. Toothed-or notched means are provided on said tilting member and a catch member is adapted to engage in the teeth or notches thereof to hold the same in any position, and the pulley means are so mounted so with respect to said catch member that the initial pull upon either end of said cord will 1 cause the )catch member to bereleased from said teeth and thus permit tilting of the de v1ce. a

The accompanying drawings illustrate my invention and referring thereto.

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the upper portion of a'Venetian blind mounted in a window 'frame, with my improved tilting device applied thereto.

Fig. 2 is a section on line 22 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged front elevation of the vice ismounted. y

Fig. 4 1s a vertical sectionon line 4-4 in rangement.

' Fi 10 is a partial view similar to Fig. 5, showing the use of one pulley for both ends of the tllting cord instead of separate pulleys 9o therefor. V

In Figs. Ho 4, the Venetian blind 1s shown as mounted within a window frame or other.

frame of which the vertical sidejmembers are indicated at-l and the horizontal top mem- .95 her at 2. The Venetian blind comprises an Q upper slat or tilt rail 3 and a pluralit of thin slats or strips 4 mounted therebeneat Fabric supporting strips 5 are secured at then upper ends to tilt rail 3 as indicated at 6 so as '100 to constitute loops extendin downwardly to the bottom of the blind, w ere they are Secured to the bottom slat of the blind in usual manner. A plurality of transverse supporting strips or webs '7 of suitable material such as fabric are secured to the opposite sides of each strip 5 at suitable intervals throughout the height of the blind, and the transverse slats 4 rest upon the webs 7 and between the opposite sides of strips 5. The strips 5 and supporting webs 7 are for the purposeof causingtheslats ltobetilted to the same angular position as tilt rail 3: It will be understood that any desired number of the fabric strips 5, each having supporting webs 7, may be provided at suitable positions throughout the length of the blind, it being customary on blinds of small or moderate size to provide two of such strips secured at points suitably spaced from the respective ends of the blind, as shown in Fig. 1.

Lifting cords 10 are also usually provided, being secured in any suitable manner to the lowermost slat and passing upwardly through slots 11 in the respective slats 4 and through slot 11 in tilt rail 3 and over pulleys such as 12 and hence through groove or channels 13 and downwardly over otherpulley means 12 to position for manual operation. The ends of these cords may hang separately or may be joined together in a loop as shown in Fig. 1. Pulleys 12 and 12' and grooves 13 are provided in the supporting member 14, commonly called the head rail, which may be shown as secured in position beneath the upper frame member 2 and extending across substantially the entire width of the window or other opening. It is also customary to provide two of these lifting cords 10 which may advantageously be placed at the same positions lengthwise of the blind as the fabric strips 5, sothat by pulling on the ends of cords 10 the blind may be raised and by releasing said cords the blind may be lowered. Such lifting means form no essential part of this invention and any other suitable form of lifting means may be used instead of those above described.

The tilting device of my invention comprises a supporting plate or bracket 15 which may be secured to any suitable fixed part, and

preferably to the underside of the ea'd rail 14, in any suitable manner as by means of screws 16 passing through openings 17 in said plate and into the head rail.

The supporting member 15 comprises a horizontal top portion 19 and downwardly extending flanges or side portions 20 and 21 depending from the edges of said horizontal portion. Theside portion 20 may be disposed towardtheside frame member 1 and spaced at any suitable distance therefrom. A rotary tilting member or wheel 22 is rotatably mounted upon and inside of the portion 20, as by means of pin 23. The tilting member her to be operated by pulling on said cord.

The tilting cord 25 may be secured to tilting member 22 by passing the same out and n through two openings 33 in the side of said tilting member, as shown in Fig. 8, said cord being bent with sufficient sharpness in passing through said openings to cause a binding action and prevent the same from slipping. If desired, the portion of the cord between the two openings 33 may be knotted as indicated at 34 in Fig. 9, so as to positively prevent slipping thereof. The groove 24 may advantageously be provided by forming wheel 22 of two pressed or stamped metal members 26 as shown particularly in Fig 7, which may be bent or flared outwardly at their outer edges and may be held together in any suitable manner. The side portion 20 is also preferably pressed or formed so as to provide an inwardly off-set portion 28 conform ing to the shape of one of the members 26 so as to provide a bearing surface therefor and help to keep the tilting member in proper alignment. A bracket 30 is secured to tilting member 22-as by means of rivets 31, which also secure together the two halves 26 of tilting member 22, said bracket being adapted to receive one end of tilt rail 3 which may be held in position as by means of screws 32. The device therefore provides. a supporting bracket for one end of the tilt rail, as well as a means for tilting the same.

The pin 23 aforesaid may have a head or flange 23 engaging bracket 30, or may be secured to said bracket or to tilting member 22 in anysuitable manner, and may be provided at its other end with washer 55 and cotter pin or retaining pin 56, which serves to hold the tilting member in position. It will be seen, however, that by simply withdrawing pin 56, the tilting member 22 and bracket 30 may be removed, as for repairing or replacing, or in the assembly or dismantling of the device.

frame member as indicated at 25' and 25".

The ends of said cord may be allowed to hang separately or may be secured together to form a loop.

i The tilting member 22 is also provided' with a plurality of notches or teeth which may be provided in the peripheries of the rei a The other end of the tilt rail maybe rotatsp ective members 26, as indicated at 41, and

the rocking member 36 is provided with a rearwardly or downwardly extending catch member .42 adapted to engage in or between the teeth or notches 41 as clearly shown in Figs. 6 and 7, so as to hold the tilting member 22 in any position to which it is aded is at the opposite side of pin from the catch member 42, so that a downward force exerted on said pulleys will cause the catch member 42 to be raised out of engagement with'the teeth 41 against the action of spring 44, as hereinafter described. Rocking member 36 may be provided with an opening 47 for permitting access to screw 16.

ably supported in any suitable or well-known manner- For example, as shown in Fig. 1, such other end may be provided with a pin 50 engaging in an L-shaped notch 51 in bracket 7 52, which may also be secured to the underside of head rail 14. i

Instead of providing two separate pulleys 38 for the respective ends of cord 25, both ends of such cord may runover a single pulley 38' as shown in Fig. 10. Said single pulley may be mounted upon pin 39 in the same manner as the two p'ulleysg38 above describedand the remainde'rwof the construction is the same as before.

The operation of-the above described'tilting device is as follows: Assuming that the slats'are tilted to'the position shown in the drawings, the catch member 42 will engage between certain teeth 41 on the tilting member 22 and efi'ectively prevent accidental tilting of the slats to any other position. Even if it were attempted, for example, to tilt the slats to some other position by pulling upon one of the .fabric supporting strips 5, or by i taking hold of the tilt rail 3 itself, the catch member would prevent such operation. Any

gradual shifting of the anghlarpositionofthe blind, due, for example,-to motion thereof caused by the wind, is thus positively prevented. However, upon exerting a downward pull on either of the cords 25' or 25 to effect tilting of the blind in one direction or the other, the initial effect of the catch member will be to prevent rotation of the tilting member, but this will in turn cause a suflicient downward pull to be exerted on pulley means 38 or 38 to move the rocking member 36 in a counterclockwisedirection about pin 35 so as to release catch member 42 from engagement With teeth 41-, whereupon further pull on the cord 25 or 25" will cause the tilting 22 to be- 25' or 25 is released the catc member 42 will again be pressed by spring 44 into engagement with teeth 41 so as to hold the same in the new position.

It will be seen from the above that only one manual operation, namely a pull upon either cord 25 or 25 is required to release and tilt the blind. Theinitial effect of the force exerted in such operation is to release the catch means, after which the same force then acts to produce the tilting motion. For

the most satisfactory operation, the pressure of spring 44 upon the catch means should have a certain approximate relation to the force required to tilt the blind. Such spring pressure should be of such strength that the application to either cord 25' or 25 of sufficient force to tilt the blind will exert. a downward pull on pulley means 38 or 38 suificientto overcome the spring-pressure and. raise the catch means 42 clear of the teeth 41. In order to act quickly and positively, however, spring 44 is preferably as strong as is possible while still permitting this relationship to hold. The force required effect the tilting operation, and smooth movement is therefore easily obtainable. This is to be distinguished. from other devices in which the tilt rail is held in position by spring-pressed catch means. In such devices, a relatively strong pull is required to release said catch means, and when released the tilt rail moves suddenly and in a jerky manner and is apt to be moved beyond the desired position. Furthermore, by providing for to release the catch means is therefore less,

or at least no greater, than that required to lifting catch member 42 entirely clear of the.

teeth, noiseless operation is ensured and the wear on said parts is greatly reduced over ,what would occur if the catch member were barely released and the teeth. a

I claim: 1. A tilting devicefor Venetian blinds comprising, in combination with the tilt rail of such a blind, a. tilting cord operatively connected to said-tilt rail to tilt the same in either direction by pulling on one or the other end of said 'cord,.catch means for holding permitted to slip over said tilt rail in adjusted position, and means whereby the initial pull on said tilting cord to tilt the tilt rail in either direction releases said catchmeans and holds the same released throughout the duration of "such pull.

2. A tilting device for Venetian blinds comprising, in combination with the tilt rail ment with said tilting member said tilt rail, manually operable means secured to said-tilting member and operable to tilt the same in either direction, means biased toward engagement with said tilting member to hold the same in adjusted position, and means operable by said manually operable means to positively wi hdraw said catch means from engagement with said tilting member and permit tilting thereof by said manually operable means.

3. A tilting device for Venetian blinds comprising a tilting member adapted to be secured to the tilt rail of such a blind and movable to various angular positions of ad justment, catch means biased toward engageand adapted when so engaged to positively hold the same tilt said tilting member adapted when so engaged to the same'in adjusted position,

engagement in adjusted position, and manually operable means operatively connected to said catch means and to said tilting member in such manner that operationeof said manually operable means acts first to positively withdraw said catch means from engagement with said tilting member and then to tilt said member.

4. A tilting device for Venetian blinds comprising a tilting member adapted to be secured to the tilt rail of such a blind and tiltable to various angular positions of adjustment, catch means movable into and out of engagement with said tilting member and positively hold ing said catch means toward engaging position with a force less than that required to when said catch means is out of engagement therewith, and manually operable means operatively con nected to said catch means and to said tilting member in such manner that operation of said manually operable means acts first to positively withdraw said catch means from with said tilting member and then to tilt said member.

5. A tilting device for Venetian blinds comprising a tilting member, a rocking member provided with catch means and biased to position to cause said catch'means to engage said tilting member, pulley means mounted on said rocking member, and an operating cord extending over said pulley catch notches at its periphery,

- tending means 'biasmounted on said bracket and havin means for connecting the tilt rail of a enetian blind thereto and also having a plurality of a rocking member pivotally mounted on said bracket, catch means on said rocking member, spring means to hold said catch means in engagement with one of said notches in the tilting member, pulley means rotatably mounted on said rocking member at the other side of the pivotal support thereof from the catch means, and a tilting-cord extending around and operatively connected to said tilting member audits two end portions extending over said pulley means and then downwardly,

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name this 5th dayof April, 1928.

' FRANK LEEPER.

means and operatively connected to said tilt= 1 the tilting member to be tilted to a new position.

.6. supporting andctiltin device for Yenetian blinds comprising a xed supportmg bracket, a tilting, memberrotatably g member from thecatch means,

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