US2105937A - Facing tape for venetian blinds - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 18, 1938. R. H. WHITE ET AL 2,105,937

FACING TAPE FOR VENETIAN BLINDS Filed April 5, 1937 I i I I I I I I Patented Jan. 18 1938 amass:

FACING TAPE FOB vsnn'rmn nnmns Ralph awaits and Donald J, McNevin, cm-

eag o, Ill.

Application April 5, 1931 L clflims ilc 1'7) Venetian blinds have now been developed to a statewhere they are very satisfactory but there is still one very annoying feature in connection with them. This is the soiling of the ladder tapes which support the slats in properly spaced relationship and tilt the slats. It is of course very diflicult, if not impossible, toclean'the tapes satisfactorily on the blind, and to remove and replace them practically amounts to rebuilding the blind.

' The dimculty of replacing the tape has also been a handicap in the event of redecoi'ating the rooms in which the blinds are located since a tape of a color' chosen to go with one color scheme often will not be satisfactory with' a diiferent c010" scheme. I

The main object of the present invention is to overcome the above mentioned difficulties. Thisl'is done by providlng a. facing tape which 0 may easily be secured to the original ladder tape to conceal the same and give the appearance of an entirely new ladder tape. 7

Further objects and advantages of the invention will appearas the description is read in connection with the accompanying drawing, in

which:

Fig. 1 is a face view of a Venetian blind embodying one form of facing tape of the present invention, one tape being partially broken away to show the original ladder tape therebelow.

Fig. 2 is a. fragmentary vertical sectional view showing the application of the facing tape to the ladder tape.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary front viewcorresponding to Fig. 2. I

Fig.4 is a horizontal sectional view taken-on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view showing one form of attachment of the fastener clip to the facing tape, and m Fig. 6 is a similarview showing modifications in the clip and its manner of attachment. Although this invention may take numerous forms, only two have been chosen for illustration. These have been illustrated in connection with a Venetian blind formed mainly of slots ll supported by conventional ladder tapes l2. As is well known, the ladder tapes 12 are secured at their tops to some manipulating structure 5 such as a tilt bar l3 which may be tilted in'either direction by the tilting cord H. The ladder tapes include cross tapes l5 which give the ladder tape its name and on which the slats rest, these cross tapes being woven into or sewn to the ver- 55 tical tapes of the ladder tapes at positions spaced according to the spacingofthe slats desired. qThe. lower ends of the ladder tapesxllarepsecured' to a'bottombar I. 'Some means for; raising. and lowering the slats is usually provided, and. in the illustratedform this comprises a raising I rope I! secured to the bottomrail I6 and-ex tending upwardly through the blind in a.position concealed by each ladder tape and over pulleys ill to a positionof convenient access near one side of'the window frame 19 in which the 10 blind is positioned. I Venetian blinds are expected to last for years and will do so, but in thecourse of a yearor two the ladder tapes I! are likely to become very. dirty and unsightly inzappearance- Although IB the slats ll may be cleaned with relative ease, the ladder tapes l2 cannot be cleaned saunas. torily on the blind and. it e is evident that their. removal amounts to almost complete disassembly of the blind. According to the present inven- 20 tion a facing tape 20 is provided which may ,be sold bythe, yard and which may readily be applied over the original ladder tape to concealthe same and present as satisfactory an appearance as if a new ladder tape were provided. Such a 25 facing tape is preferably slightly wi'derthan the original ladder tape, as seen. best in Figs. 3 and 4.", Since the conventional ladder tapesare inches wide, the facing tapesmay be 1% inches wide. Almost any type of securing means 'may be used for securing the faclng'tape' 20 to the ladder tape or directly to the slats of the blind if preferred, but in either case the securing means should be concealed and should be .of' a form 35 whichpwill not unduly injure the ladder tape or the slat. In the illustrated form clips 2| are used which maybe either permanently or de tachably secured to the facingftape '20 at regular intervals and include finger portions 22 designed to hook around the sides of the ladder tape I2 and engage itwith sufficient firmness to hold theiacing tape in place. It will be evident that the hook-like fingers 22 may be sub- 'stantially rigid and of the shape shown or they may be of a more resilient nature, in which case they should tend to press againstthe bodyv portion of the clip 2|. Likewise; the fingers'122 could be in the-form of prongs of a softer metal to bdoubleii. ever by hand in-application of the facing strip 28 to the ladder tape l2. Fig.6 illustrates a flat ribbon 2| having finger portions '2l.whlch can be bent over at the position of the dotted lines to clamp around the edges of the ladder tape. Of course, instead of hooking around the edges of the ladder tape I! the nngers 22 or 24 could pierce the ladder tape if preferred. The illustrated form of clip is preas seen in Fig. 5, being mainly on the'back side ferred because it is-not only easily attached to the ladder tape but is easily removed when it is desired to replace the first facing tape with a new facing tape. Although a wire clip has been used, it could be formed of a flat ribbon with the same advantages.

The clips 2| may be secured to the facing tape in any unobtrusive manner. According to the embodiment illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5 loops 23 are provided, which may be formed by a pair of extra cords or heavy threads 25 through which the clip 2| extends. Such a cord or heavy thread may extend. longitudinally of the facing tape 20 thereof so as to be unobtrusive; Thesmallloops 26 which extend to the'front of thetape are preferably so positioned as to blend'with the orna- 'mental design 2l. The loops are preferably long enough topermit the clips 2| to be inserted therein at will and removed easily to facilitate cleaning thefaclng tape i2. f The loops 2. are p of-a self-locking nature to prevent the .cordor thread 25 from being'pulledout. .Of'course, entirely independent stitches could be used for each clip 2| if preferred.

- Instead of the threadorcord 1oops,,tape loops may be provided-by stitching a wide band or two widely separated relatively narrow bands oi tape on'the back side of the facing tape,- the stitches ofcoursebeing omittedat the position of the loop.- The clips 2| maybe passed through the various securing loops after these loops'are com, pleted or theloops may bewoven orstitched in the facing tape 20around the clip-2| properly placed on the facing tape 20. This-hasbeen il- 2| beforethe facing tape is appliedto the ladder tape. In the case of the upper end of the fee-'- ing tape the doubled over end portion 21 maybe left upstanding to partially conceal the raising cord and"the'securing tacks at the upper end of ladder tape l2, thus presenting a neater appearance than 1 did the original ladder tape. Likewise, the lower end of the facing tape 20 may present a heater appearance than the original ladder tape by being'extended entirely around under the bottom rail 6, thus concealing the ends of the original ladder tape; -In this event the facing tape 20 will be hooked to the far side of the ladderitape i2 approximately adjacent the ':bot-- tom rail l6 as shown in Fig. 2', its end being folded in as in the case of the upper end portion 21.

Fromthe foregoing it is seen that a facing tape is provided' which is so readily applied to the ladder tape of 'conventional blinds that there isv no longer any need toflhave dirty ladder, tapes exposed'orto change the ladder tape when the 'color scheme of the room in-which the Venetian blind is located is changed.

Thedisclosures of this application areillustrative and the invention is not 'to be limited by them. In fact, if modifications or improvements are not at once obvious, they may be deornamental design thereon so as above the tilt rail to conceal a vised in the course of time to make additional use of the broad ideas taught and covered by this application. The claims are intended to point out novel features and not to limit the invention except as may be requiredby prior art. I

We claim:

i. In combination with the ladder tape of a Venetian blind, a facing tape having a width at least as great as the width of the ladder tape, a series of loopson the backside of the facing tape. and fastening means secured to the facing tape by the loops and having fingers securing the facing tape to the ladder tape whereby the facing tape completely conceals the ladder tape from normal view.

2.In'combination' with the ladder tape of a Venetian blind, a facing tape secured thereto by detachable securing means, the facing tape being sufllciently wide to substantially conceal the ladder tape and the securing means from normal view.

3. A facing tape for applicationto atvenetian blind ladder tape having loops on the back side thereof and fastening. means secured to the fac ing tape by theloops and adapted tosecure the facing tape to a ladder tape, the fastening means being substantially invisible from the front of the facing tape v 4. Incombination with the ladder tape of a Venetian blind, a facing tapehaving an orna-v mental front face and of a width at least'jas great as the width of theladder tape and fastening means forreadily fastening the facing tape to the ladder tape with ready detachability secured to the facing tape-by means blendingwith the I to be substan tially unnoticeable.

5. A facing tape for Venetian blind ladder tapes including an extensive length of tape adapted to have desired lengths of tape cut therefrom and having fastening means secured on its back side at close intervals. by loops and adapted to secure the facing tape readily to a ladder tape, the fastening means being adapted to also vsecure the cut end of the tape in a folded-under position. v 6. The combination of a Venetian blind including. a tilt rail, a ladder tape secured thereto in exposed position, a plurality. of slats supported by the ladder tape, and a facing tape secured to the ladder. tape in a readily detachable manner by concealed securing means, the facing tapeextending above the tilt rail to conceal the point of attachment of the. ladder tape to the tilt rail. '7. A Venetian blind including a head bar, a tilt rail therebelow, tape means secured to the tilt rail, a plurality of slats supported by the tape means, and-a raising cord extending from the head structure down through the tilt rail and slats, the tape means extendingvfreely upwardly portion of the 'raising cord thereabove. a

-8. A Yenetian blind including a plurality of slats, a ladder tape normally supporting the slats in spacedrelationship, tilt means for supporting and manipulating .the ladder tape, a bottom rail below the slats having the ladder tape secured to the bottom thereof, and a facing tape secured to the ladder tape-on one side of the blind substantially concealingthe ladder tape and extending under and around to the far side of the bottom rail to conceal the points cit-securing tape to the bottom rail- RALPH H. WHITE.

DONALD J. McNEVIN,

the ladder

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