US2178437A - Curtain - Google Patents

Description

O 1939- G. SCHONFARBER .175337 'CURTAIN Filed June 22, 1938 2 Sheets She t 1 -GORDON SCHONFARBER Oct. 31, 1939. I vea. SCHONFARBER 2. 78.43

CURTAIN Ei'led, June 22, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Oct. 31, 1939 CURTAIN Gordon Schonfarber, Pawtucket, R. I., assignor to Lanpher & Schonfarber Inc., Providence, It. I., a corporation of Rhode Island Application June 22, 1938, Serial No. 215,181

2 Claims.

'My invention relates to improvements in curtains. Y

An object of my invention is to provide a curtain having a plurality of curtain rod receiv- 5' ingchannels or supports adiacentthe upper end thereof with the threads thereof so stitched and woven that the fabric may be out along lines intermediate said channels to provide a curtain of the desired height for a specific window.

Much dimculty has existed in the sale of ourtains hitherto, and it has been difficult to make prefabricated curtains which may be sold as packaged goods due to the great irregularities in the heights of the different windows in the different 15 houses for which the curtains are to be used.

As a result, curtain fabrics have to date usually been sold as fabrics in spacious upstairs departments of department stores. One object of my invention, therefore, is to make the sale of our- 20 tains a packaged proposition on the main floors of department stores.

Employing present day types of curtain fabrics, the hanging of them in the homes, or other places, has involved considerable diificulty, as the channel for receiving the curtain rod has had to be manufactured in the home by measuring the height. of the window and doubling over the fabric to the. desired height and hemming in the home to provide the channel. This has resulted in agreat irregularity even in the hanging of individual curtains for windows of the same height in the same room.

A further object of my invention therefore is to eliminate the necessity of hemming or refinishing the upper edge of the curtain in the home after it has been adjusted to the proper length. I am aware that others have provided a plurality of channels or tubes specially woven in the fabric for this purpose, or alternately have provided a plurality of aligned rows of curtain rod receiving holes so that the curtain may be sold as a. packaged unit and the curtain rod inserted through a selected row of holes, or a selected channel, allowingall portions'of the curtain above saidselected channel, or row of holes, to hang down at the top of the curtain and be somewhat unsightly.

A further object of my invention is to provide a, curtain having a plurality of preferably parallel channels,- any selected one of which may be employed to receive the curtain rod to provide a curtain of the desired height and in which the portion of the curtain fabricupstanding sub stantially above said channel may be entirely cut away and removed so as to only provide a decorative heading across the top and not to provide an unsightly mass of unused fabric at the top of the curtain.

So far as I am aware no one has provided prior to my invention a curtain structure which will 5 permit of the cutting of the fabric intermediate parallel rows or channels to provide a curtain of the desired height without unraveling the fabric adjacent the line on which it is cut, and a further object of my invention is to provide a structure intermediate said parallel rod receiving channels which will positively permit the curtain to be selectively cut above the desired channel and which after it is cut will positively not unravel along the top out edge thereof.

A further object of my invention is to provide a curtain which when out along a selected line will present a pleasing and ornamental top edge preferably with an upstanding heading incapable of unraveling. I preferably for this purpose provide a plurality of spaced rowsof aligned holes and employ stitching joining said layers of fabric together along the upper and lower edges of said rows of aligned holes, which stitching preferably also bunches and clamps the warp threads together between the holes to positively prevent unraveling of the fabric when the bunched warp threads between said holes are out. While this means may include any type of hemstitching, including hand hemstitching or other stitching suitable for this purpose, it preferably comprises machine hemstitching, either accomplished on a sewing machine attachment or on a standard type of hemstitching machine. While any suitable type of stitching means may be employed for this purpose I like the machine type of hemstitching or equivalent type of stitching the best as it not only bunches the warp threads between the holes together as in hand hemstitching but also seals the fabric against unraveling along-the upper and lower edges of the individual holes. The respective face and reverse lines of hemstitching are positively twisted about each other and adjacent filling threads to prevent unraveling of the fabric along each edge of each hole, which lines also positively draw, bunch and clamp the group of warp threads of both layers together between each hole so that no unraveling can occur either where the bunched warp threads are cut or along the edges of the holes.

These and such other objects of my invention as may hereinafter appear will be best understood from a description of the accompanying drawings which illustrate an embodiment thereof.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a curtain constructed in accordance with my invention capable of being out along one of a plurality of selective lines to provide a curtain having a pleasing upper edge, having a rod receiving channel adjacent thereto of a desired predetermined height to fit a selected window.

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of an upper portion of a window having a curtain constructed in accordance with my invention with the upper portion thereof removed to provide a curtain of just the desired height for the window with an ornamental picot edge on the upper end thereof.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a portion of the curtain shown in Fig. 2 illustrating the rows of rod receiving channels, the rows of hemstitched holes and the intermediate rows of channel forming plain stitching characteristic of my invention.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail view illustrating a characteristic type of machine hemstitching for a single layer.

In the drawings, wherein like characters of reference indicate like parts throughout, It) generally indicates a curtain fabric constructed in accordance with my invention.

My invention includes a curtain or drape [2 comprising curtain fabric of a standard width and of greater length than the height of standard types of windows I4 with the upper end l6 of said curtain fabric downfolded to provide with the overlapped portion N3 of said fabric a double thickness of said curtain fabric at the upper end of said curtain I2.

To provide a structure which may be readily out without unraveling, I provide a plurality of parallel lines of hemstitching 20 joining said layers of fabric together adjacent the upper end thereof thereby providing a plurality of parallel rows of curtain rod receiving channels 22 adjacent the upper end of said curtain whereby said curtain may be out along a selected line of hemstitching 20 to provide a curtain of a predetermined height suitable for the height of the window on which it is to be hung, with a curtain rod receiving channel 22 immediately below the upper end 24 thereof and having a heading terminating in an upper picot edge 26 substantially incapable of unraveling,

Any suitable type of hemstitching may be employed. In hand hemstitching toweling, for instance, the housewife pulls out the filling threads adjacent the border. This leaves a line of spaced warp threads adjacent the border. She then with a single thread hemstitches one edge of the fabric along said portion by drawing a stitch through the fabric on one side of the set of warp threads she wishes to bunch, loops the stitch around the adjacent ends of the warp threads she wishes to bunch and draws it again through the fabric on the opposite side of the bunch employing a single thread across the fabric, first along one edge of the thus formed row of holes 30 and then the other, providing the bunches 29 of warp threads between said holes. This type of hand hemstitching may be employed to join two layers together provided the desired line of said filling threads are pulled out of each layer and the thread loops are made around the desired number of warp threads in both layers to form the bunches. While this type of hand hemstitching bunches the warp threads and tends to prevent them from unraveling, it does not so successfully provide a barrier for the unraveling of the filling threads adjacent the bunches 29 and holes 30 as is possible with machine hemstitching. In machine hemstitching the row 28 of aligned holes 30 is formed through both layers prior to the stitching, both the warp threads 32 and filling threads 34 in each layer being displaced laterally and longitudinally to form said holes and to lie more closely together along the upper and lower edges of said holes and forming the bunches 29 of warp threads 32 in each layer between said holes. Parallel lines of hemstitching join said doubled layers I6 and I8 of curtain fabric together along respective upper and lower edges 40 and 42 of said aligned holes.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged detailed view illustrating the characteristic type of machine hemstitching for a single layer. Each line of machine hemstitching comprises two layers of threads 44 and 46 extending in zigzag intertwining relationship above and below the superimposed layers "5 and I8 of fabric respectively twisted around each other and around one or more adjacent filling threads of each layer along the respective upper and lower edges of each hole of said rows of aligned holes and extending respectively above and below the superimposed warp threads of both layers between adjacent holes to draw, bunch and clamp said warp threads of both layers together between said holes to prevent unraveling of the fabric when the row of bunched warp threads between the row of holes is out. While in most instances the threads 44 and 46 are twisted around the adjacent filling threads of both layers, in some instances they may in practice be twisted around the adjacent filling threads of one layer only at intervals.

It is thus obvious that with machine hemstitching that both bunched layers 29 of warp threads between each respective hole in a row are not only looped but are positively drawn, bunched and clamped together in spaced lines substantially coinciding with the upper and lower edges of the holes and as distinguished from hand hemstitching, in addition, each layer of threads 44 and 46 is positively twisted around adjacent filling threads 34 of both layers so as to supplementally positively prevent unraveling.

While the above description is characteristic of what may be accomplished by machine hemstitching, any type of stitching, whether called hemstitching or not, which will answer the language of the claims, or any means comprising threads joining said layers of fabric I6 and I8 together along the respective upper and lower edges 40 and 42 of said rows of aligned holes stitched to prevent unraveling of the fabric and separation of the layers of fabric when the threads between the holes are cut, may be employed.

It is obvious therefore that the curtains may be sold as packaged goods and the purchaser may measure the height of the window and cut the curtain along the respective line of hemstitching 20 or bunches 29 nearest the desired height of curtain. It is apparent that when the curtain is out along the line of hemstitching 20 that the cut bunches 29 of warp threads will project upwards to form a picot edge 52, or ornamental ruflie, which will positively not unravel along said edge.

If desired to make a greater plurality of channels 22 for the reception of the curtain rod, lines of plain stitching may be interposed at spaced distances above and below said parallel lines of hemstitching holes or other stitching. In the embodiment shown two parallel lines 56 of stitching may be interposed joining said layers l6 and l8 together between each respective line 20 of hemstitching holes 30 thus forming three selective tubes or channels 22 between each respective line of stitching 20. It is apparent, however, that these lines of plain stitching while they additionally strengthen the curtain may be limited to one between each row of holes or hemstitching.

It is apparent, therefore, that I provide a novel type of curtain or drape which may be sold in packaged form by the vendor and which may be selectively cut to fit a window of any predetermined length by the user, and which may be readily hung by merely inserting a curtain rod through a selected channel 22 to automatically provide a curtain of the desired height for the window, and it is furtherapparent that I have provided a structure which while it may be cut will not unravel along the cut edge thereof and will provide a heading having a decorative or finished edge.

It is understood that my invention is not limited to the specific embodiment shown and that various deviations may be made therefrom without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A curtain or drape, comprising curtain fabric having warp and filling threads, having the upper end thereof downfolded to provide a double thickness of 'said curtain fabric at said upper end, a plurality of parallel rows of aligned holes formed in said doubled layers, means comprising threads joining said layers of fabric together along the respective upper and lower edges of said rows of aligned holes stitched to prevent unraveling of the fabric when the warp threads between said holesare cut, and at least one line of plain stitching interposed between each of said parallel rows of holes parallel thereto to provide a curtain support spaced such a distance below each row of holes that when said curtain is cut along a selected row of holes, a curtain of predetermined height is provided with a curtain support spaced a sufiicient amount from the upper end thereof to provide said curtain, when hung on a window casing on a curtain rod inserted underneath the support closest to the top thereof, with an upper end comprising a heading terminating in an upper ornamental picot edge substantially incapable of unraveling.

2. A curtain or drape, comprising curtain fabric having warp and filling threads, having the upper end thereof downfolded to provide a double thickness of said curtain fabric at said upper end, a plurality of parallel rows of aligned holes formed in said doubled layers, lines of threads extending above and below the layers of fabric respectively twisted around each other and substantially all of the adjacent filling threads of said layers along the respective upper and lower edges of each hole of said rows of aligned holes, and extending respectively above and below the warp threads of both layers between adjacent holes to draw, bunch and clamp said warp threads of both layers together to prevent unraveling of the fabric when the row of bunched warp threads between a row of said holes is cut, and at least one line of plain stitching interposed between each of said parallel rows of holes parallel thereto to provide a curtain support spaced such a distance below each row of holes that when said curtain is out along a selected row of holes, a curtain of a predetermined height is provided with a curtain support spaced a suflicient amount from the upper end thereof to provide said curtain, when hung on a window casing on a curtain rod inserted underneath the support closest to the top thereof, with an upper end comprising a heading terminating in an upper ornamental picot edge substantially incapable of unraveling.

GORDON SCHONFARBER.

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