US20070125502A1

US20070125502A1 - Window blind structure

Info

Publication number: US20070125502A1
Application number: US11/344,238
Authority: US
Inventors: Wen Liang
Original assignee: Ching Feng Home Fashions Co Ltd
Current assignee: Ching Feng Home Fashions Co Ltd
Priority date: 2005-12-05
Filing date: 2006-02-01
Publication date: 2007-06-07
Also published as: TWM290919U

Abstract

A window blind structure comprises a beaded-chain control unit with a positioning seat and a cord-winding device accommodated to one end of a head rail, and left/right drive-control pulley assemblies mounted to both ends of the head rail for the winding of pull cords synchronically attached to an actuating cord at one end and guided through a blind body to fix onto a bottom rail at the other end respectively. The positioning seat has an assembly cavity with through holes defining thereon precisely matched to a roller shaft of a two-way rotary cylinder of the cord-winding device, permitting the actuating cord to pass through the through holes and attach onto the roller shaft. Therefore, the actuating cord, drawn to coil up or release depending on the revolving direction of the roller shaft, can move the pull cords and the bottom rail therewith to collect or expand the blind body thereby.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a window blind structure, comprising a beaded-chain control unit with a positioning seat and a cord-winding device accommodated to one end of a head rail, and left/right drive-control pulley assemblies mounted to both ends of the head rail for the winding of pull cords that are synchronically attached to an actuating cord at one end and guided through a blind body to fix onto a bottom rail at the other end respectively; whereby, the actuating cord, drawn to coil up or release according to the rotating direction of a roller shaft of the cord-winding device, can move the pull cords and the bottom rail linked thereto to collect or expand the blind body thereby.
Please refer to FIG. 1. A conventional window blind structure includes a beaded-chain operated blind 10 made up of a head rail 101, and a linking rod 11 mounted into the head rail 10 and synchronically rotated by a beaded-chain operated seat 12. The linking rod 11 has a plurality of cord winders 13 attached thereto, and each cord winder 13 has a pull cord 14 coiled thereon. The pull cord 14 is guided to extend through a blind body 15 and fixed to a bottom rail at the other end thereof. Therefore, depending on the revolving direction of the beaded-chain operated seat 12, the cord winders 13 are synchronically rotated along with the linking rod 11 actuated by the beaded-chain operated seat 12 so as to coil up or release the pull cords 14 therewith accordingly.
There are some drawbacks to such conventional window blind structure. First, depending on the number and position of the pull cords 14, the beaded-chain operated seat 12 must have multiple cord winders 13 mounted onto the linking rod 11 to match to the pull cords 14 each attached to one cord winder 13 thereby. Thus the conventional window blind is not only complicated in its assembling parts, but also inconveniently time-consuming in the assembly thereof, which may boost the cost of production in an uneconomical way. Second, each pull cord 14 is individually wound onto one cord-winder 13. In case one of the pull cords 14 of the cord winders 13 gets intertwined and stuck in operation, the beaded-chain operated seat 12 will become jammed in an immovable situation and must be repeatedly pulled to return to the normal state, which can cause inconvenience in application thereof. Third, the beaded-chain operated seat 12 is horizontally mounted to extend at the outer side of one end of the head rail 101. As a result, the overall size of the head rail 101 tends to become longer, and space between the window frame and the wall surface must be preset for the mounting of the beaded-chain operated seat 12 thereto in installment. In case of insufficient space left for the beaded-chain operated seat 12, it becomes impossible to install the head rail in place. Thus, the conventional window blind thereof is inconveniently limited in installment.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

It is, therefore, the primary purpose of the present invention to provide a window blind structure, comprising a beaded-chain control unit composed of a positioning seat with through holes precisely matched to a roller shaft of a cord-winding device in linking operation with an actuating cord that can synchronically move each pull cord and a bottom rail to collect or expand a blind body thereby and avoid the jamming problem found in the above-mentioned conventional multiple cord-winders, efficiently achieving an effortless and smooth operation thereof, and simplifying the assembly parts to facilitate easier assembly and reduce the cost of production thereby.
It is, therefore, the second purpose of the present invention to provide a window blind structure wherein the through holes of the positioning seat are precisely matched to the roller shaft of the cord-winding device in linking operation with the actuating cord and the pull cords, and the beaded-chain control unit is vertically mounted to the front side of the head rail, permitting a beaded-chain to suspend in the front side of the blind body so that the space occupied by the above-mentioned conventional beaded-chain operated seat can be saved and the head rail and the blind body can be maintained in an even and neat appearance to achieve flexibility of the present invention in installment.
It is, therefore, the third purpose of the present invention to provide a window blind structure wherein the head rail has a set of left/right drive-control pulley assemblies mounted at both ends therein for the winding of the pull cords thereon, facilitating smooth gliding and guiding of the pull cords synchronically drawn by the actuating cord in the coiling or releasing operation thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an assembled flat view of a conventional window blind structure.
FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a beaded-chain control unit of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is an assembled perspective view of the beaded-chain control unit of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is an assembled cross sectional view of the beaded-chain control unit with an actuating cord of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is an assembled perspective view of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a top-side view of the actuating cord of the present invention with pull cords synchronically attached thereto.
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the beaded-chain control unit in a down-pulling operation to coil up the actuating cord of the present invention.
FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the beaded-chain control unit in another down-pulling operation to release the actuating cord and expand a blind body of the present invention thereby.
FIG. 10 is an assembled perspective view of another embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a bottom rail of another embodiment of the present invention lowered along with pull cords released to expand a blind body.
FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a middle rail of another embodiment of the present invention lowered along with lift cords to stack downwards the blind body and form a two-stage and double-cord operated blind structure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Please refer to FIG. 2 showing an exploded perspective view of the present invention (accompanied by FIG. 3 showing an exploded perspective view of a beaded-chain control unit of the present invention). The present invention relates to a window blind structure, comprising a beaded-chain control unit made up of a positioning seat 20 and a cord-winding device 30, a head rail 40, a blind body 50, a bottom rail 60, and a set of left and right drive- control pulley assemblies 70, 70′. The positioning seat 20 has an assembling cavity 21 defining the interior therein, a support block 22 with screw holes 221 protruding at one side of the opening edge of the assembly cavity 21, a smaller-diameter pivoting hole 23 cut at the bottom end surface, and a set of rectangular through holes 24 symmetrically defining both lateral side surfaces thereon. The cord-winding device 30 has a stop plate 31 with locking holes 311 disposed thereon extending at one side thereof, and a pivoting shaft 32 protruding at the other side for the coupling therewith of a rotary sleeve 321 with linking teeth 3211, and a positioning spring 322 with abutting legs 3221 respectively. A two-way rotary cylinder 33 is provided with a restricting block 331 extending at the interior thereon to match to the abutting legs 3221 thereof, and is actuated to rotate either clockwise or counterclockwise depending on the revolving direction of the rotary sleeve 321 thereof. The linking teeth 3211 of the rotary sleeve 321 are driven by a beaded-chain 34 to actuate the rotation of the two-way rotary cylinder 33 therewith. The other end of the two-way rotary cylinder 33 has a smaller-diameter roller shaft 333 with a set of stop rings 332 extending at both sides thereon wherein the stop rings 332 are shaped larger than the outer diameter of the two-way rotary cylinder 33, and a pivoting axle 334 is provided extending outwards from the stop ring 332 situated at the outer side to fit to the pivoting hole 23 thereby. The head rail 40 has an accommodating channel 41 indented in the interior thereof, a U-shaped insert groove 42 cut at one outer side thereon for the inserting location of the positioning seat 20 thereon, and two end openings 43 disposed at both end edges thereon for the engagement of a sealing cover 44 therewith respectively. The bottom surface of the head rail 40 is appropriately disposed a plurality of cord-passage holes 46 for the extension of pull cords 45 there-through respectively wherein each pull cord 45 is guided through the blind body 50 to fix to the bottom rail 60 at the bottommost end thereof. The left/right drive- control pulley assemblies 70, 70′ are respectively equipped with a positioning bi-pulley 71, 71′ made up of a set of inner and outer rollers 711, 712, 711′, 712′, and a guiding pulley 72, 72′ wherein the positioning bi-pulleys 71, 71′ and the guiding pulleys 72, 72′ are correspondingly arranged at both ends of the head rail 40 therein with both positioning bi-pulleys 71, 71′ situated at the outer side of the two guiding pulleys 72, 72′ respectively.
In assembly, referring to FIG. 4 showing an assembled perspective view of the beaded-chain control unit thereof, the positioning seat 20 is mounted to the insert groove 42 of the head rail 40 in secure location therein, and the sealing covers 44 are respectively sealed onto both end openings 43 of the head rail 40. Then, the two-way rotary cylinder 33 of the cord-winding device 30 is pivotally adapted into the assembling cavity 21 of the positioning seat 20 till the outer stop ring 332 abuts against the bottom surface of the assembling cavity 21 and locates at one side of the through holes 24, permitting the pivoting axle 334 to pivotally join to the pivoting hole 23 thereby. Meanwhile, the locking holes 311 of the stop plate 31 and the screw holes 221 of the support block 22 are reciprocally matched and secured to each other, and the other stop ring 332 situated at the inner side thereof is allowed to locate at the other side of the through holes 24, permitting the roller shaft 333 to precisely align with the through holes 24 so that an actuating cord A as shown in FIG. 5 can pass through the through hole 24 to attach onto the roller shaft 333 thereby. And the other ends of the pull cords 45 as shown in FIG. 6 are guided through the cord-passage holes 46 of the head rail 40 to run through the guiding pulleys 72, 72′ respectively before synchronically extended to wind around the inner roller 711′ of the positioning bi-pulley 71′ disposed at the right drive-control pulley assembly 70′ thereof. Then, the pull cords 45 are extended to pass through the guiding pulley 72 and wind from up to down to run around the outer roller 712 of the positioning bi-pulley 71 disposed at the left drive-control pulley assembly 70 before extended from up to down to wind around the outer roller 712′ of the positioning bi-pulley 71′ thereof. Then, the pull cords 45 are guided to pass through the two guiding pulleys 72, 72′ before led from down to up to wind around the outer roller 712 of the positioning bi-pulley 71 and, then, extended to run through the two guiding pulleys 72, 72′ again before both ends of the two pull cords 45 are synchronically attached onto the actuating cord A of the beaded-chain control unit as shown in FIG. 7. Therefore, each pull cord 45 (that, depending on its extension of full-length, can be wound onto the left/right drive- control pulley assemblies 70, 70′ in different coiling manner) is synchronically moved by the actuating cord A of the cord-winding device 30 in linking operation to complete the assembly of the present invention.
Please refer to FIG. 8. In application, the beaded-chain 34 of the cord-winding device 30 is effortlessly pulled downwards to actuate the two-way rotary cylinder 33 rotating inside the assembling cavity 21 thereof and actuating the synchronic movement of the roller shaft 333 therewith. And, depending on the rotating direction of the roller shaft 333, the actuating cord A will be coiled up or released accordingly. As a result, each pull cord 45 will be synchronically drawn to glide along the left/right drive- control pulley assemblies 70, 70′ to collect or expand the blind body 50 thereby as shown in FIG. 9, achieving smooth operation thereby without the jamming problem found in the conventional multiple cord winders above. Besides, the beaded-chain control unit is vertically mounted into one end of the head rail 40, and the through holes 24 of the positioning seat 20 are reciprocally matched to the roller shaft 333 of the cord-winding device 30 for the winding of the actuating cord A and the pull cords 45 in linking operation. Thus, the beaded chain 34 of the cord-winding device 30 can suspend levelly in the front side of the head rail 40 and the blind body 50, economically saving the space occupied by the above-mentioned conventional beaded-chain operated seat so that the head rail 40 and the blind body 50 can be maintained in even and neat appearance and the assembly parts can be simplified to achieve easier installment and reduce the cost of production thereby.
Please refer to FIG. 10 showing an assembled perspective view of another embodiment of the present invention. A set of U-shaped insert grooves 42 can also be disposed at both ends of the head rail 40 thereon wherein a first positioning seat 20 with through holes 24, and a first beaded-chain control unit made up of an actuating cord A and a first cord-winding device 30 with a first roller shaft 333 are located to one U-shaped insert groove 42 disposed at one end of the head rail 40 while a second positioning seat 20′ with through holes 24′, and a second beaded-chain control unit made up of an operating cord A′ and a second cord-winding device 30′ are mounted to the other U-shaped insert groove 42 disposed at the other end of the head rail 40. And an auxiliary pulley 73, 73′ can be respectively situated at one side of the guiding pulleys 72, 72′ of the left/right drive- control pulley assemblies 70, 70′. In addition, to the top edge of the blind body 50 is fixedly attached a middle rail 80 having a plurality of cord passes 81 disposed thereon for the extension of lift cords 82 and the pull cords 45 there-through before they are synchronically guided to extend through the cord-passage holes 46 of the head rail 40. The lift cords 82 are fixed to the middle rail 80 while the pull cords 45 are attached to the bottom rail 60 to form a two-stage and double-cord operated blind structure. The pull cords 45 are wound onto the left/right drive- control pulley assemblies 70, 70′ in the above-mentioned assembly manner and are connected to the actuating cord A in linking operation. The lift cords 82 led through the head rail 40 are guided to extend in the opposite direction of the pull cords 45 and respectively wind through the auxiliary pulleys 73, 73′ and the guiding pulley 72 before they are synchronically led downwards to run around the inner roller 711 of the positioning bi-pulley 71 and then the inner roller 711′ of the positioning bi-pulley 71′ in a sequence. Then, the lift cords 82 are guided from up to down to wind around the outer roller 712′ and then extend to the inner roller 711 thereof till the lift cords 82 (each, depending on its full length, can be wound onto the left/right drive- control pulley assemblies 70, 70′ in different manner) are synchronically attached to the operating cord A′ of the second beaded-chain control unit in linking actuation therewith.
Please refer to FIG. 11. In application, a beaded-chain 34 of the first cord-winding device 30 is effortlessly pulled downward to actuate the rotation of the first roller shaft 333, permitting the actuating cord A to coil up or release according to the revolving direction of the roller shaft 333 thereof so as to synchronically move each pull cord 45 and the bottom rail 60 therewith for the collection or expansion of the blind body 50 thereby. Furthermore, when a second beaded-chain 34′ of the second cord-winding device 30′ is effortlessly pulled downward to actuate the rotation of the second roller shaft 333′ as shown in FIG. 12, the operating cord A′ will be coiled up or released depending on the revolving direction of the second roller shaft 333′, and, thus, synchronically actuate the lift cords 82 linked thereto. Meanwhile, the middle rail 80 will be synchronically moved therewith to stack downwards the blind body 50, and an adjustable transparent/ventilating space 50′ will be revealed between the middle rail 80 and the head rail 40 thereof, achieving two-stage and double-cord operated blind structure thereby. Besides, the second embodiment of the present invention can also avoid the jamming problem found in the above-mentioned multiple cord-winders thereof and economically achieve flexibility in application with simplified assembly parts and reduced cost of production thereof.

Claims

1. A window blind structure, comprising a beaded-chain control unit made up of a positioning seat and a cord-winding device that is accommodated to one end of a head rail, and a set of left/right drive-control pulley assemblies are mounted to both ends of the head rail for the winding of a plurality of pull cords that, sequentially running through the left/right drive-control pulley assemblies, are synchronically attached to an actuating cord at one end, and led through a blind body to fix to a bottom rail at the other end respectively wherein the positioning seat has an assembly cavity with through holes defining the interior therein, and the cord-winding device has a two-way rotary cylinder with a roller shaft precisely matched to the through holes of the positioning seat thereof so that the actuating cord can be guided through the through holes to attach onto the roller shaft thereby; therefore, the actuating cord is drawn to coil up or release depending on the revolving direction of the roller shaft, which will actuate the synchronic movement of the pull cords and the bottom rail in linking operation so as to collect or expand the blind body thereby.

2. The window blind structure as claimed in claim 1 wherein the through holes of the positioning seat thereof can be symmetrically disposed at both lateral sides of the assembling cavity thereon.

3. The window blind structure as claimed in claim 1 wherein the roller shaft of the cord-winding device has a set of stop rings extending at both sides thereon.

4. The window blind structure as claimed in claim 1 wherein the head rail is equipped with an accommodating channel indented therein, and a U-shaped insert groove cut at one outer side thereon for the inserting location of the positioning seat therein.

5. The window blind structure as claimed in claim 4 wherein the accommodating channel of the head rail thereof has an end opening defining both end edges thereon for the coupling of a matched sealing cover therewith respectively.

6. The window blind structure as claimed in claim 1 wherein each of the left/right drive-control pulley assemblies includes a positioning bi-pulley composed of a set of inner and outer rollers, and a guiding pulley that are symmetrically mounted at both ends of the head rail therein, permitting both positioning bi-pulleys of the left/right drive-control pulley assemblies to situate at the outer side of both guiding pulleys thereof respectively.

7. The window blind structure as claimed in claim 1 wherein a second beaded-chain control unit equipped with an operating cord can also be mounted to the other end of the head rail opposite to the first beaded-chain control unit thereof.

8. The window blind structure as claimed in claim 7 wherein the actuating cord of the first beaded-chain control unit and the operating cord of the second beaded-chain control unit are respectively linked to a plurality of pull cords and lift cords, and a middle rail is attached to the top edge of the blind body for the fixing of the lift cords thereto while the pull cords thereof are attached to the bottom rail so as to provide a two-stage and double-cord operated blind structure thereby.

9. The window blind structure as claimed in claim 1 wherein the left/right drive-control pulley assemblies can also have an auxiliary pulley mounted to situate at one side of the guiding pulley respectively.

10. The window blind structure as claimed in claim 1 wherein the through holes of the positioning seat thereof can be made in a rectangular shape.