US3157907A

US3157907A - Traverse rod glide

Info

Publication number: US3157907A
Application number: US267688A
Authority: US
Inventors: Orville T Stall
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1963-03-25
Filing date: 1963-03-25
Publication date: 1964-11-24
Anticipated expiration: 1981-11-24

Description

Nov. 24, 1964 v o. T. STALL 3,

TRAVERSE ROD GLIDE Filed March 25, 1963 INVENTOR. Orv/4W6- TSZc?// United States Patent Ofi ice 3,l?,%? Patented Nov. 24, 1964 @rviile This invention relates to a traverse rod glide and is more particularly concerned with an improved glide having novel drape and pleater-engaging means.

It is common practice in the drapery art to provide elongate horizontally-disposed drapery-supporting tracks or traverse rods, to slidably engage a plurality of hanger locks or glides having depending hook-receiving eyes thereon in the rod and to provide a plurality of horizontally-spaced drapery hooks at or along the upper edge of drapery panels and engaged in the eyes on the glides, thereby slidably supporting the draperies, at spaced intervals, from the traverse rods.

It has long been common practice to establish Wide hems along the upper edges or" draperies and to establish a plurality of longitudinally-spaced pleats in the hems so as to achieve the desired draping effect and also to provide sufficient bulk and rigidity at the upper edges of the draperies to properly receive the drapery hooks and to maintain the draperies in proper form.

In recent years, pleaters, consisting of elongate, resilient, sinuate or serpentine springs have been employed in draperies, in place of the establishment of pleats in the draperies, per se. These pleaters are established of ribbon stock, arranged in a vertical plane and are provided with pin-receiving apertures along their central longitudinal axes. These pleaters are arranged in small hems along the upper or top edges of the draperies. Conventional drapery hooks are engaged through the upper hem portion of the draperies and through the apertures in the pleaters therein and are engaged through the eyes of the glides carried by the traverse rods in the old or standard manner.

While the above set-up has proven to be reasonably successful, certain disadvantages exist. First, the necessity of providing drapery hooks is undesirable. Such hooks are simply additional parts to be concerned with an are difiicult and undesirable to work with. Second, since the drapery hooks must hook, first with the draperies and second with the eyes in the glides, a great deal of slop or play is established by the hooks, between the traverse rods and the draperies. Third, since the pleater and drapery assemblies must be balanced so as not to tip forwardly or rearwardly and the hooks must necessarily be engaged through the drapes and apertures in the pleaters from one side of the drape and plea'tcr assemblies, the upper portions of the hooks must be bent and formed so that the upper hook portions thereof, which engage the eyes of the glides, occur above the drapes and in vertical alignment with the apertures in the pleater. This results in the hooks being of considerable vertical extent and in supporting the drapes in spaced relationship below the glides and the rods. The above, in addition to establishing a loose, sloppy installation, is unattractive.

An object of the present invention is to provide a novel drapery glide having drapery-engaging means, thereby eliminating the necessity of providing separate conventional drapery hooks.

Another object of this invention is to provide a drapery glide of the character referred to wherein the drapery, with a pleater engaged therein, is closely embraced by the glide and is not free to swing and shift relative thereto.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a glide of the character referred to which establishes a neat, compact, stable and balanced assembly between the traverse rod and the draperies.

A further object of this invention is to provide a drapery glide of the character referred to including a unitary molded plastic body and a single, non-removable or displaceable, self-locking retaining pin.

It is another object of this invention to provide a construction of the character referred to wherein the glide can be easily and conveniently engaged or removed from a drapery by means of the fingers on one hand and without the use or exercise of special tools, skill or extraordinary effort.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a drapery construction wherein the glides are fixed to and carried by the drapery and are such that they can be easily and conveniently engaged or disengaged with the traverse rod.

The various objects and features of my invention will be fully understood from the following detailed description of a typical preferred form and application of my invention throughout which description reference is made to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing glides as provided by the present invention related to a traverse rod, pleater and pleater and drapery assembly;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged detailed sectional view taken as indicated by line 22 on FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken as indicated by line 3-3 on FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a view taken as indicated by line 44 on PEG. 1; and

FIG. 5 is a View taken as indicated by line 55 on FIG. 2 and showing the pin element in a different position.

The drapery glides A that I provide are adapted to be engaged in a traverse rod B and with a drapery C and pleater D.

The traverse rod B is an elongate horizontally-disposed rolled sheet metal part having a fiat top wall rounded side walls 11 and a pair of laterally-inwardly-projecting bottom walls or rails 12 having flat top and

bottom surfaces

13 and 14 and straight laterally-spaced opposing edges 15.

The rails 12 are simple continuations of the rounded side Walls ill. The rod B is adapted to be mounted on a ceiling or wall, adjacent a window opening or the like and to support the drapery C, through the glides A, for engagement across said opening. Various means can be employed to mount the rod, however, since such means in no Way affects or forms a part of the instant invention, I have not illustrated a rod-mounting means and will not burden this specification with further discussion thereof.

The drapery C is a simple fiat, vertically-disposed rectangular sheet of fabric and is provided with an elongate horizontally-disposed hem l6 coextensive with the upper edge thereof and open at its ends.

The pleater D is an elongate, horizontally-disposed sinuate or serpentine ribbon of spring steel. The ribbon is arranged in a vertical plane and is provided with a pinrality of longitudinally-spaced apertures 17, which apertures occur along the central axis of the pleater. The pleater is slidably engaged in the hem 16 of the drapery C to extend longitudinally of the upper edge of the drapery and serves to yieldingly maintain the upper edge of the drapery in a sinuate or serpentine arrangement, causing to drape in a neat, uniform, rounded pleated fashion.

The glides A that I provide are like unitary assemblies, each including a molded plastic body E and a spring steel pin F.

Each body E includes an upper portion 20, a lower yoke portion 21 and a central or intermediate neck portion 22.

The head portion 2% is an elongate portion rectangular in plane configuration, having a top surface 23, a flat down- 3 wardly-disposed rail-engaging bottom surface 24, ends and sides 26. The ends 25 are shown rounded.

The head portion 29 is greater in longitudinal extent and is less in lateral extent that the distance between the opposing edges 15 of the rails 12 of the traverse rod B.

The glides A are normally engaged in the rods, with their longitudinal axes extending transverse the axes of the rails and their bottom surfaces 24, in flat, sliding hearing engagement on the top surface 13 of the rails; see FIG. 2 of the drawings.

When is is desired to remove the glides from engagement in or with the rails of the traverse rods B, the glides are turned or urged a full 90 degrees from their normal arrangement, as mentioned above, and so that the sides 26 thereof extend parallel with the edges 15 of the rails and the heads 29 are free to shift between the rails.

The neck portions 22 are simple, straight, verticallydisposed cylindrical portions depending from the bottom surfaces 24 of the heads, intermediate the ends thereof and are equal in diametric extent with the lateral extent of the head portions 20.

The round exterior of the necks establish bearing surfaces to engage the edges 15 of the traverse rod rails 12 and to allow for free longitudinal shifting and rotation of the glides relative to the rods. The lower yoke portions 21 of the glides includes upper, rectangular headers 27 having flat top surfaces 28, bottom surfaces 29, ends 30 and straight parallel sides 31. The top surfaces 28 are spaced from and oppose the bottom surfaces 24 of the head portions 20 and the bottom surfaces 14 of the traverse rod rails 12 and are integrally joined with the lower end of the neck portion 22, intermediate their ends.

The lower yoke portion 21 is greater in lateral extent than the distance between the opposing edges 15 of the rails 12 so that upon excessive upward shifting and engagement of the guides in the traverse rods, the top surfaces 28 of the yoke portions 21 engage and stop against the said bottom surfaces of the rails.

The lower yoke portions 21 further include a pair of laterally-spaced depending legs 32 depending from the bottom surfaces 29 of the headers and having flat, parallel, vertically-disposed and opposing inner surfaces 33 and outer surfaces 3%. The upper ends of the legs are coextensive with longitudinal extent of the headers and are shown as having downwardly-convergent ends 35 and flat bottoms 36.

The yoke portions 21 are adapted to receive and embrace the upper hem 16 of the drapery C, with the pleater D engaged therein, with the bottom surfaces 29 of the headers opposing the top or upper edges of the drapery and the legs 32 occurring at the opposite sides of the draperies, as clearly illustrated in FIG. 4- of the drawings.

In addition to the foregoing, the yoke portions 21 of the glides are provided with upper transverse pin-receiving openings 37 in the headers 27 and a pair of lower, transverse, axially-aligned pinreceiving openings 38 in the legs 32.

The pins F that I provide are elongate, unitary members of spring steel, bent in a substantially rectangular form with lower, horizontally-disposed drapery-engaging portions 40, upper, horizontally-disposed locking portions 41, vertically-disposed finger-engaging and stop portions 42 extending between one end of the lower portion and one end of the upper portion and a second, vertically-disposed finger-engaging and stop portion 43 depending'from the other end of the said upper portion.

The lower portion is substantially equal in longitudinal extent with the lateral extent of the yoke and is normally engaged in the openings 38 in the legs 32, to extend therebetween and through the drapery and pleater assembly, as clearly illustrated in FIG. 4 of the drawings.

The free ends of the lower portions 48 of the pins F, remote from the ends thereof that join the portions 42 of the pins, are pointed.

The upper lock portions 41 of the pins F are substantially equal to twice the lateral extent of the yoke portions of the glides and are sildably en through the upper openings 37 in the glides. The portions 41 are bent intermediate their ends to establish oppositely-extending, straight, downwardly-inclined ends X and Y, or, an upwardly-projecting resilient peak Z.

The vertical portions 42 extending between one end of the upper portion 41 and the lower portion 40 of the pins, connect the said portions 40 and 41, ccur at the exteriors of the yokes and establish finger-engaging parts and parts which engage and stop against the adjacent or opposing sides of the yokes and thereby limit lateral drifting of the pins F in one direction relative to the yokes.

The vertical portions 43 depending from the other ends of the upper portions 41 of the pins F occur at the exterior of the yoke, establish finger-engaging parts and also establish stops to engage the other side of the yohes and limit shifting of the pins F in the other or opposite direction.

With the construction set forth above, it will be apparent that the lower portions 40 of the pins, extending through the openings 33 in the yoltes, are carried by the upper portions 41 and that upon shifting of the upper portions of the pins laterally relative to the yokes, so that either one end X or the other end Y of the said upper portions occur in the o enings 37, the lower portions 4t. are shifted laterally, into and out of bridging engagement between the legs of the yokcs and into and out of engagernent through the draperies C and the apertures 17 in the pleaters D.

it will also be apparent that when the upper portions 41 of the pins are in either of the above-mentioned positions, the angularly related portions X or Y not engaged in the openings 37, serve to yielding y lock, and prevent the other portion, engaged in said openings from shifting therein.

Still further, it will be apparent that when the upper portions 41 are shifted longitudinally in either direction, the end portions X and Y and/ or the pe. it Z flex and yield sufiiciently, upon the exertion of nominal pressures at the ends of said portions 41 to allow for longitudinal shifting of said portions 41 in the openings 37 and laterally of the yoke portions of the glides. The upper portions 41, in effect, snap from one position to the other when operated.

It will be apparent that with the self-locking, shiftable pin construction F that I provide, the pins can be easily and conveniently shifted by one finger of a persons hand, in which the glide is engaged, leaving the persons other hand free to handle and manipulate the drapery and pleater assembly, with which the glide being handled is related.

In practice, the glides are initially engaged with the drapery and pleater assembly, whereupon this assembly is lifted to occur adjacent the lower sides of the traverse rods B and the plcater D is manually flexed, beyond its normal extent of flexing and so as to rotate the head portions of the glides for free engagement into and with the traverse rods B. When the said head portions of the glides are engaged in the rod B, the pleater, drape and glide assembly is released, leaving the glides engaged in and with the rods in the manner illustrated in the drawings and with the drapery and pleater hung or suspended therefrom.

Having described only a typical preferred form and application of my invention, 1 do not wish to be limited to the specific details herein set forth, but wish to reserve to myself any variations and modifications that may appear to those skilled in the art and fall within the scope of the following claims.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. A glide engageable in a traverse rod and with a drapery including, an upper rod-engaging head, a lower drapery-engaging yoke with a header and a pair of laterally spaced depending legs to occur at the opposite sides of a drapery, an upper transverse pin-receiving opening in the yoke and a pair of axially-aligned lower transverse pinreceiving openings in the legs of the yoke and a pin having a lower portion engageable through the lower openings to bridge the legs and project through the drapery engaged therebetween, an upper portion slidably engaged through the upper opening and an intermediate portion connecting the said upper and lower pontions at one end thereof, said upper portion of the pin being greater in longitudinal extent than the lower portion thereof, whereby the upper portion of the pin remains engaged in the upper opening in the yoke when its lower portion is shifted laterally from within the space between the legs.

2. A glide engageable in a traverse rod and with a drapery including, an upper rod-engaging head, a lower drapery-engaging yoke with a header and a pair of laterallyspaced depending legs to occur at the opposite sides of a drapery, an upper transverse pin-receiving opening in the yoke and a pair of axially-aligned lower transverse pinreceiv-ing openings in the legs of the yoke and a pin having a lower portion engageable through the lower openings to bridge the legs and project through the drapery engaged therehetween, an upper portion slidably engaged through the upper opening and an intermediate portion connecting the said upper and lower portions at one end thereof, the other end of the upper portion having a finger and glide engaging portion angularly related thereto and projecting therefrom.

3. A glide engageable in a traverse rod and with a drapery including, an upper rod-engaging head, a lower drapery-engaging yoke with a header and a pair of laterally-spaced depending legs to occur at the opposite sides of a drapery, an upper transverse pin-receiving opening in the yoke and a pair of axially-aligned lower transverse pin-receiving openings in the legs of the yoke and a pin having a lower portion engageabletthrough the lower openings to bridge the legs and project through the drapery engaged therebetween, an upper portion slidably engaged through the upper opening and an intermediate portion connecting the said upper and lower portions at one end thereof, said upper portion having straight angularly related ends, each equal in longitudinal extent with the lateral extent of the upper opening and being sufficiently resilient to flex and yield upon lateral shifting of the said upper portion of the pin through said opening.

4. A glide engageable in a traverse rod and with a drapery including, an upper rod-engaging head, a lower drapery-engaging yoke with a header and a pair of laterally-spaced depending legs to occur at the opposite sides of a drapery, an upper transverse pin-receiving opening in the yoke and a pair of axially-aligned lower trans verse pin-receiving openings in the legs of the yoke and a pin having a lower portion engageable through the lower openings to bridge the legs and project through the drapery engaged therebetween, an upper portion slidably engaged through the upper opening and an intermediate portion connection the said upper and lower portions at one end thereof, said upper portion having straight angularly related ends, each equal in longitudinal extent with the lateral extent of the upper opening and being sutliciently resilient to flex and yoke upon lateral shiftingof the said upper portion of the pin through said opening, the other end of the upper portion having a finger and glide-engaging portion angularly related thereto and projecting therefrom.

5. A glide engageable in a traverse rod and with a drapery including, an upper rod-engaging head, a lower drapery-engaging yoke with a header and a pair of laterally spaced depending legs to occur at the opposite sides of a drapery, an upper transverse pin-receiving opening in the yoke and a pair of axially-aligned lower transverse pinreceiving openings in the legs of the yoke and a pin having a lower portion engageable through the lower openings to bridge the legs and project through the drapery engaged therebetween, an upper portion slidably engaged through the upper opening and an intermediate portion connecting the said upper and lower portions at one end thereof, said upper portion of the pin having straight angularly related ends defining a central, resilient peak, said peak adapted to flex and yield upon lateral shifting of the said upper portion of the pin in the said upper opening.

6. A glide engageable in a traverse rod and with a drapery including, an upper rod-engaging head, a lower drapery-engaging yoke with a header and a pair of laterally-spaced depending legs to occur at the opposite sides of a drapery, an upper transverse pin-receiving opening in the yoke and a pair of axially-aligned lower transverse pinreceiving openings in the legs of the yoke and a pin having a lower portion engageable through the lower openings to bridge the legs and project through the drapery engaged therebet'ween, an upper portion slidably engaged through the upper opening and an intermediate portion connecting the said upper and lower portions at one end thereof, said upper portion of the pin having straight angularly related ends defining a central, resilient peak, said peak adapted to flex and yield upon lateral shifting of the said upper portion of the pin in the said upper opening, the other end of the upper portion of the pin having a finger and glide-engaging portion angularly related thereto and projecting therefrom.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,125,202 Sauer July 26, 1938 2,709,831 Mountain June 7, 1955 2,817,889 Kalal et a1. Dec. 31, 1957 3,090,431 Stubblefield May 21, 1963 FOREIGN PATENTS 915,495 Germany July 22, 1954 292,018 Switzerland Oct. 16, 1953

Claims

1. A GLIDE ENGAGEABLE IN A TRAVERSE ROD AND WITH A DRAPERY INCLUDING, AN UPPER ROD-ENGAGING HEAD, A LOWER DRAPERY-ENGAGING YOKE WITH A HEADER AND A PAIR OF LATERALLYSPACED DEPENDING LEGS TO OCCUR AT THE OPPOSITE SIDES OF A DRAPERY, AN UPPER TRANSVERSE PIN-RECIVING OPENING IN THE YOKE AND A PAIR OF AXIALLY-ALIGNED LOWER TRANSVERSE PINRECEIVING OPENINGS IN THE LEGS OF THE YOKE AND A PIN HAVING A LOWER PORTION ENGAGEABLE THROUGH THE LOWER OPENINGS TO BRIDGE THE LEGS AND PROJECT THROUGH THE DRAPERY ENGAGED THEREBETWEEN, AN UPPER PORTION SLIDABLY ENGAGED THROUGH THE UPPER OPENING AND AN INTERMEDIATE PORTION CONNECTING THE SAID UPPER AND LOWER PORTIONS AT ONE END THEREOF, SAID UPPER PORTION OF THE PIN BEING GREATER IN LONGITUDINAL EXTENT THAN THE LOWER PORTION THEREOF, WHEREBY THE UPPER PORTION OF THE PIN REMAINS ENGAGED IN THE UPPER OPENINGS IN THE YOKE WHEN ITS LOWER PORTION IS SHIFTED LATERALLY FROM WITHIN THE SPACE BETWEEN THE LEGS.