US2872975A

US2872975A - Venetian blind slat route

Info

Publication number: US2872975A
Application number: US359733A
Authority: US
Inventors: Walker Brooks
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1953-06-05
Filing date: 1953-06-05
Publication date: 1959-02-10
Anticipated expiration: 1976-02-10

Description

B. 'WALKER 2,872,975

VENETIAI I BLIND SLAT ROUTE Feb. 10, 1959 Filed June 5, 1955 IN VEN TOR.

MIMJWM United States Patent VENETIAN BLlND SLAT ROUTE Brooks Walker, Piedmont, Calif.

Application June 5, 1953, Serial No. 359,733 2" Claims. ('Cl 160 -173) This invention pertains to improvements to Venetian blind slats and particularly the route holes by which the slats can be secured to thecross rungs of the ladder tape to improve the stability of the slats and to prevent flutter and displacement of the slats when exposed to wind, or when brushed against draperies, clothing, et cetera.

Applicants co-pending patent application, Serial No.

293,588, now U. S. Patent 2,670,037 issued February 23, 1954, by Mr. E. J. Hunter, and assigned to applicant, covers another form of tongue which secures the slat to the ladder tape but does not provide the cross bars which prevent the lift cord when located in the route hole from getting caught in the cutout at the edge of the tongues. It has been found that under certain conditions if cross bars are not provided between the route hole for the lift cord and the ends of the tongues that either when originally threading the lift cords through the slats in making the blind or under other conditions where the slats may have been displaced through cleaning, et cetera, it is possible for the lift cords either to bend the tongues permanently and get caught between the sides of the tongue and the main body of the slat. Applicants structure with tongues and continuous bars connecting the sides of the slat and completely enclosing the lift cord in the route hole eliminates this difiiculty, does not add any parts to the slat to accomplish the purpose as it only requires a different type of die to punch applicants structure and nothing has to be added.

Other features of the invention will be more particularly pointed out in the accompanying specifications and claims I have illustrated.

The invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation, partly cut away, showing one form of the invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of a portion of the lift cord and ladder tape with the tongue on the slat engaging the cross rung.

Fig. 3 is a plan view taken at section 33 of Fig. 1 and somewhat enlarged.

On all figures like numerals of reference refer to corresponding parts in the various views.

In Figs. 1, 2, and 3 I have shown a Venetian blind with a headrail 10, a tilt rail 9, a tilt mechanism 11 operated by tilt cords 14, a pivot 12 for the other end of the tilt rod 9,

lift cords

30 and 31 passing through recesses in the headrail 10 held in the blind raised position by cord lock 13. These lift cords pass between staggered ladder rungs 19, although the same construction will work equally well if there are double ladder rungs, one on each side of the lift cords at each slat station. The

lift cords

30 and 31 respectively pass through holes E which are preferably just wide enough to freely clear the lift cord 31, as shown particularly in Figs. 2 and 3.

As is shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the route hole or cord receiving opening SE is disposed intermediate the opposite side edges of each slat 5 and is elongated transversely of said edges. Each slat is further provided with a pair of 2,872,975 Patented Feb. 10, 1959 ice thereof are disposed adjacent opposite ends of the cord receiving opening and are elongated longitudinally of the slat.

Relatively narrow bars 5C and 5D are disposed between the cord receiving opening 5E and adjacent ends of the tape rung receiving openings 5F and the bars are unitary with the slat.

The slat is slit or provided with a cut-out section 56 adjacent each of said bars and parallel therewith thereby providing tape rung engaging tongues 5A and 53 whose opposite side edges are defined by the inner or adjacent edges of said tape rung receiving openings 5F. These tongues may have a gap between their ends and the side bars closest to them, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, or they may merely be a cut section of the slat so that the end of the tongue actually touches the cross bar next to it, depending upon the way the die that forms the route holes is made. The slats 5 are supported in spaced relationship by ladder tapes 2t} and 21 by means of the cross rungs 19 which connect the side members of the cross tapes in the conventional or suitable manner. The bottom of the

ladder tapes

20 and 21 is secured to bottom rail 25' by suitable means, such as tacks, or staples 22. The

lift cords

30 and 31 are likewise secured to the bottom rail 25 by suitable means, such as a knot in the cord resting in a recess in the bottom rail or any other suitable means. Any other type of headrail and bottom rail or bottom weights may be used in the blind as this invention pertains solely to the route hole or punching of the slat to provide tongues, a route hole between the tongues, and an enclosure for the route hole so that the lift cord cannot get caught in the space between the sides of the tongues and the main body of the slat or, in general, so that the enclosure of the route hole formed from the main slat body prevents contact of the lift cord with the tongues. This also prevents the possibility of the lift cord deflecting or permanently bending the tongues under unusual service conditions.

When the blind embodying this invention is made up, it may be delivered to the customer without first engaging the tongues with the cross rungs to save that manufacturing cost. The housewife or purchaser of the blinds may then be instructed on the engagement of the tongues to get stability of the slats where the slats are going to be located in front of an open Window; in an area exposed to wind, where they may contact drapes; or where people, animals, clothing, et cetera, may contact the blinds to cause the slats to get out of place. Under these conditions the tongues should be engaged for the entire blind or that portion of the blind which is exposed to any slat-displacing conditions.

Similarly, the same punch punched on some or all of the slats near the center of a blind having three or more tapes can be used to lock the intermediate tapes to the slats to prevent displacement of the intermediate tapes and keep them always in line with the side tapes and the ends of the slats.

With this construction it is not necessary to add any parts to the slats or the tapes in order to accomplish this stability. The lift cord is prevented from contacting or catching in or near the tongues because the width of the tongue extends over a substantial length of the slat (by usually less than the width of the ladder tapes). The slats have much more flexibility without taking a permanent set than slats which have been punched for a conventional route hole only, where the added flexibility is only for the much shorter length of the route hole.

To those skilled in the art to which this invention relates, many changes in construction and widely differing embodiments and applications of the invention will suggest themselveswithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The disclosures and the description herein are purely illustrative and are not intended to be in any sense limiting.

-I claim as my invention:

1. A Venetian blind slat provided with a lift cord receiving opening intermediate the opposite side edges thereof and being elongated transversely of said edges,

adjacent edges of said rung receiving openings, and the free end of said tongue being disposed adjacent said bar.

2. A Venetian blind slat, provided with a lift cord receiving opening intermediate the opposite side edges thereof and being elongated transversely thereof, a pair of tape rung receiving openings in said slat at each side v4 7 of said lift cord receiving opening, the openings of each of said pairs thereof being disposed adjacent opposite ends of said lift cord receiving. opening and being disposed longitudinally of theslat, and the material of said slat between the openings of each pair thereof being slit in parallel and spaced relation to an adjacent edge of the lift cord receiving opening providing a flexible rung engaging tongue.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,061,548 Cameron Nov. 24, 1936 2,072,464 Nisenson Mar. 2, 1937 2,297,996 Wolfe Oct. 6, 1942 2,311,716 Walker Feb. 23, 1943 2,471,710 Adler May 31, 1949 2,480,993 Adler v Sept. 6, 1949 2,570,018 Williamson Oct. 2, 1951 2,572,896 Walker Oct. 30, 1951 2,576,159 Walker Nov. 27, 1951 2,576,160 Walker Nov. 27, 1951 2,670,037 Hunter Feb. 23, 1954