US3695489A

US3695489A - Drapery support apparatus for rufflette and shirred draperies

Info

Publication number: US3695489A
Application number: US217147A
Authority: US
Inventors: Robert M Kirche
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1972-01-12
Filing date: 1972-01-12
Publication date: 1972-10-03
Anticipated expiration: 1989-10-03

Abstract

A drapery support assembly for use with apparatus for pleating, folding and stretching draperies of the shirred and rufflette types. A variable range of predetermined fixed distances is provided by securing one point at the upper portion of a shirred or rufflette drapery at a forward location on the assembly and then directing the upper most portion of the drapery back to a fixed predetermined rearward location on the assembly where it is folded and returned back to the forward location where it is then pinned at a point adjacent to said first point.

Description

United States Patent Kirche [541 DRAPERY SUPPORT APPARATUS FOR RUFFLETTE AND SHIRRED DRAPERIES 72 Inventor: Robert M. Kirche, 41 l Arbor Vitae,

lnglewood, Calif. 9030l [22] Filed: Jan. 12, 1972 {21] Appl. No.: 2l7,l47

I 52| U.S. Cl. ..223/34 [51 l Int. Cl. ..A4lh 43/00, DOSb 35/08, D06j 1/00 {58] Field of Search ..223/28-34, 37,

[5 6] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Getchell et al. ..223/32 Soto ..233/28 [4 1 Oct. 3, 1972 3,613,968 10/1971 Kirche ..233/32 3,613,967 lO/l97l Clement ..223/32 Primary Examiner-Jordan Franklin Assistant Examiner-G. V. Larkin Attorney-Gerald L. Price 5 7 ABSTRACT A drapery support assembly for use with apparatus for pleating, folding and stretching draperies of the shirred and rufflette types. A variable range of predetermined fixed distances is provided by securing one point at the upper portion of a shirred or rufflette drapery at a forward location on the assembly and then directing the upper most portion of the drapery back to a fixed predetermined rearward location on the assembly where it is folded and returned back to the forward location where it is then pinned at a point adjacent to said first point. i

9 Claims, 12 Drawing Figures PATENTEnnms I972 3 6 I SHEETZUFZ 95'489 DRAPERY SUPPORT APPARATUS FOR RUFFLETTE AND SI-IIRRED DRAPERIES BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to an assembly for supporting draperies of the shirred or rufflette type on an apparatus for pleating, stretching and folding draperies used by commercial drapery Cleaning establishments such as that depicted in my Us. Pat. No. 3, 613,968.

While said patent discloses a drapery pleating, folding and stretching apparatus having a drapery support assembly 24 for elevating draperies to a desired height, supporting same at said desired height, and enabling the draperies to be stretched to a a desired length by a pulling force at a lower portion of the draperies, this drapery support assembly and all others on machines intended for the same general purpose, are designed to support draperies of the type having a plurality of pleats, each of a predetermined dimension, whereby the drapery can be supported at its uppermost portion at each adjacent fold defining a pleat.

In addition to draperies having integral pleats at the upper portion of predetermined dimensions, there are also draperies of the shirred or rufflette type which are quite common in a number of European countries and these types of draperies are not provided with a built in or integral plurality of pleats of a predetermined dimension. Accordingly, draperies of the shirred or rufflette type cannot be readily and efficiently supported by the drapery support assembly 24 of my apparatus set forth in my aforestated patent.

Accordingly, it is the general aim of the present invention to provide a new and improved drapery support assembly for use with drapery pleating, stretching and folding apparatus such as that set forth in my aforestated patent, which will enable draperies of the shirred and rufflette types to be readily and efficiently attached and supported in a pleated configuration with pleats of a predetermined dimension.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved drapery support assembly of the aforestated type which will enable the operator of the apparatus to remove shirred or rufflette draperies in a quick and simple manner. I

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a drapery support assembly embodying the features of the present inven tion;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the drapery support as sembly shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a top plan diagrammatic view depicting a shirred or rufflette drapery supported by the drapery support assembly shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of the end tab for supporting the forward portion of the drapery support assembly shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a side elevation illustrating a drapery support assembly similar to that shown in FIG. 1 but with a modified support and adjustment arrangement for the front drapery support assembly;

the pleat adjustment and drapery removal portion of the drapery support assembly shown in FIG. 7; and 1 FIG. 12 is a fragmentary perspective view of still another drapery support assembly embodying the features of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS While particular embodiments of the present invention are shown in the drawings and will herein be described in detail, it is apparent that changes and modifications may be made without departing from the invention in its broader aspects, and therefore, the aim in the appended claims is to cover such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

In accordance with one of the one of the important aspects of the present invention, provision is made for supporting shirred or rufflette draperies which dd not embody a preformed pleat, in a pleated arrangement wherein the pleats are of any one of a number of predetermined dimensions. Referring first to FIG. 1, this is accomplished in a drapery support assembly generally indicated at 11 which includes two separate expandable scissor linkages generally indicated at 13 and 15, each of the type shown and described in my aforestated US. Pat. No. 3,613,968 with provision whereby one of said scissor linkages can be selectively positioned at a predetermined distance from the other so that a shirred or rufflette drapery can be supported in a pleated configuration as depicted diagrammatically in FIG. 3.

The embodiment depicted in FIG. 1, includes a crossbar 12 carrying the rearward expandable scissor linkage 13 which is intended to be selectively raised and lowered according to the teachings of my aforestated patent, a second crossbar 14 carrying the forward expandable scissor linkage 15 and a pair of support arms 17 affixed at each end of crossbar 12 and extending horizontally outwardly therefrom for supporting crossbar l4 and its associated expandable scissor linkage 15 at any one of a plurality of predetermined distances from crossbar 12 with these predetermined distances corresponding to the various pleat widths that a shirred or rufflette drapery 25 can be supported in on the instant assembly.

In order to position crossbar 14 at any one of the aforestated predetermined fixed distances from crossbar 12, an elongated slot 26 is provided in each support 17 with each of the slots provided with a plurality of depressions 27 on the lower edge thereof with each depression corresponding to one of the predetermined distances that the bar 14 can be fixedly maintained from the crossbar 12.

g in a predetermined position.

To maintain the crossbar 14 in a predetermined position on the support 17, each tab 28 is provided with a turneddown edge 29 which is adapted to engage the depressions 27 in slot 26. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 2 the crossbar 14 can be lifted slightly and located by virtue of the engagement of the turned down edge 29 with the depression 27 at any one of the positions corresponding to said depressions. Two such positions are depicted in FIG. 2 with one being in solid lines, and the other being in broken lines.

In order to attach the rufflette or shirred drapery 25 to the drapery support assembly 11 each

expandable scissor linkage

13 and 15 is provided with a plurality of

respective arms

22 and 19 with the arms 22 on the rearward'scissors linkage 13 each having an upwardly and rearwardly directed pin 23 extending therefrom and each arm 19 on the forward expandable linkage l having a pin 21 extending upwardly and forwardly therefrom. Accordingly, once the crossbar 14 has been located at a selected predetermined distance from the crossbar 12 to define the pleat width that the shirred or rufflette drapery 25 will be maintained in when supported, the drapery is then alternately fastened between

successive arms

22 and 19 on the two expandable linkages l3 and as diagrammatically depicted in FIG. 3.

In order to remove the drapery 25 from the instant support assembly once it has been stretched, folded and the like, the operator merely has to relocate crossbar 14 to a position closer to the crossbar 12 thereby providing enough slack in the pleats of the drapery 25 so that the pleats can be lifted off the

pins

21 and 23. Alternatively, by providing proper clearance between the turned down edge 29 of the tabs 28 and the depressions 27, the entire crossbar 14 and associated expandable scissor linkage 15 can be rotated in a clockwise direction about the point of engagement between edge 28 and depression 27 thereby also providing sufficient slack in the pleats of the drapery 25 to enable the removal of same from the

pins

23 and 21.

Turning next to FIG. 5, a modified arrangement for supporting crossbar 14 and positioning same at a plurality of predetermined fixed distances from crossbar 12 is shown. In this arrangement, crossbar 12 is provided with a support block 24 at each end thereof with an upwardly directed aperture therein which is adapted to receive support arm 17a which in turn is affixed to each end of crossbar 14a and extends horizontally and rearwardly therefrom. The crossbar 17a is further provided with a plurality of spaced notches 33 at its lower edge with each of same adapted to engage the uppermost edge of the bottom of the aperture in each block 24. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 5, when the uppermost edge of the lower portion of the aperture in the block 24 engages one of the notches 33 of the support arm 17a, the arm will be fixedly maintained in a horizontal position by virtue of said engagement and the engagement of the lowermost edge of the upper portion of the same aperture with the upper edge of the support arm 17a.

It will be readily apparent that this arrangement will enable the crossbar 14a to be rotated slightly counterclockwise as shown by the broken arrows and then advanced downwardly so that the support arms 17a reloca'te within the aperture and blocks 24 to provide the desired slack in the draperies 25 for the removal of same from

pins

21 and 23.

Turning next to FIG. 6, still another modified arrangement for supporting and positioning the forward crossbar identified in this embodiment as 14b at any one of the plurality of positions from crossbar 12 which as hereinbefore stated corresponds to the various desired widths of pleats that drapery 25 can be supported in. This embodiment is essentially similar to that depicted in FIG. 1, but utilizes a support arm extending rearwardly and horizontally from crossbar 14b which carries a threaded stud 34 which is of a diameter which permits it to be seated in each depression 27 in the slot 26 and a stop nut 32 on the end of the stud which is received on the stud in a manner whereby the crossbar 14b can be readily relocated without tightening or loosening nut 32 at any of the positions where the stud 34 engages the depressions 26. In order to maintain the support arm 33 and in turn the crossbar 14b in a horizontal position at any of the desired distances from the crossbar 12, each support arm 33 is provided with a latch 30 having a spring loaded latching pin 31 which normally extends through the slot 26 thereby maintaining the support arm 33 and the crossbar 14b in a horizontal position, but can be withdrawn therefrom which as shown in broken lines in FIG. 6 will enable the crossbar 14b to be pivoted about the stud 34 in any of the depressions 27 in a clockwise direction thereby enabling the drapery 25 to be readily removed from the

pins

21 and 23.

It should be. pointed out that in all the preceding embodiments, the arms 22 on the rearward scissor linkage 13 can also be provided with an additional pin 23a shown in FIG. 2 in broken lines, thereby enabling the drapery support assembly 11 to be utilized with conventional pleated draperies in the manner disclosed in my aforestated patent.

Turning next to FIG. 7, another embodiment of a drapery support assembly is shown which in keeping with the important aspects of the instant invention, provides support for both pleated draperies in the manner disclosed in my aforestated patent and additionally provides support in a pleated configuration for nonpleated rufflette or shirred draperies. A further advantage of this embodiment is that the arms 22 and their associated pins 23a of the scissor linkage 13 are disposed forward of the arms and pins for supporting the opposite folds of the shirred or rufflette type draperies thereby not presenting an obstruction or safety hazard to an operator using the assembly for prepleated draperies such as the pinch pleat type and further does not require the removal or disassembly of the scissor linkage provided for the shirred or rufflette drapery in order to use the assembly for prepleated draperies.

The embodiment shown in FIG. 7 includes a pair of support and adjustment plates 34 which are provided at each end of crossbar 12 and extend rearwardly and horizontally therefrom. Each plate 34 is slideably carried on crossbar 12 as a result of the engagement of a pair of pins 35 carried on the crossbar 12 which extend through an elongated slot 36 in the support and adjustment plate 34 which as shown permits plate 34 to be slideably adjusted within a range dictated by the length of the slot 36. A wing nut 37 is provided on one of the pins 35 which is threaded to receive same so as to be able to fixedly maintain each plate 34 at a desired position within a range provided by the length of the slot 36. As shown, indicia 38 can be provided on the plate to index predetermined positions to fixedly secure the plate 34. At the rearward portion of each plate 34, an elongated rod 40 corresponding to the length of crossbar 12 is rotatably journaled between each support and adjustment plate 34 by a pin 42 coaxial with rod 40 and extending therefrom, which passes through an aperture 43 in plate 34. At one end of rod'40, a handle 45 is attached to pin 42 after it passes through the aperture 43 to permit the rod 40 to be rotated.

In order to attach the rearward folds of the ruffiette or shirred drapery, a plurality of arms 46 are carried on the rod 40 with pins 47 extending upwardly and rearwardly therefrom. As in the case of the previously discussed embodiments, the number of arms 46 corresponds to the arms 22 in the expandable scissor linkage 13 carried by crossbar 12 so that a shirred or rufflette drapery can be supported in a pleated configuration as depicted in FIGS. 8 and 9. While the arms 46 are shown for convenience in this discussion as being separately affixed to the rod 40, it is pointed out that the rod 40 could also be provided with a scissor linkage such as that of 13 thereby enabling the entire drapery to be folded for hanging and packaging as disclosed in my aforestated patent.

As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, by sliding the support plates 34 along the limits of travel provided by slot 36 therein, the spacing between the arms 46 on rod 40 and arms 22 on crossbar 12 can be selectively maintained to providea desired dimension of each pleat. In FIG. 8 a setting providing a pleat of a 2 inch width is diagrammatically depicted while in FIG. 9 a 4 inch width pleat setting is illustrated. It is understood of course that any intermediate position between the extreme ends of the slot36 could be set on the instant assembly.

In order to remove the drapery 25 from the apparatus shown in FIG. 7 after it has been stretched, folded and the like, provision is made for rotating the rod 40 to a position wherein the arms 46 are moved upwardly thereby placing each pleat in a slackened condition and permitting the removal of the drapery from between the

pins

47 and 23a. This is accomplished by providing a plurality of detents 50 about the circumference of the rod 40 adjacent to one of the support plates 34 and a latching member 51 carried by the plate 34 with a pin 52 thereon which is adapted to be selectively positioned into and out of said detents 50.

Accordingly, as shown in FIGS. and 11, the drapery can be removed from its pleated configuration between the

respective arms

47 and 23a by withdrawing pin 52 from the detent maintaining the rod 40 in its then fixed position, and rotating the rod counterclockwise until the pleats are sufficiently slackened to permit the removal of the drapery 25 as shown in solid lines in FIG. 11.

In addition to utilizing the positioning of the pin 52 of the latch 51 with the detents 50 for the removal of the drapery 25, it will also be readily apparent that the rod 40 can be rotated to a plurality of positions such as those shown in FIG. 10 in dotted lines which will provide different spacings between the

pins

47 and 23a thereby effectively permitting a plurality of pleat width adjustments at each fixed setting of the support and adjustment plate 34. For example, if the rod 40 is rotated clockwise so that pin 52 of the latch 51 engages the next detent 50 on the rod, an additional dimension such as 1 inch could be set as the pleat width of the shirred or rufflette drapery to be supported with the rod 40 maintained in this position. In the same type of procedure, the rod 40 could also be rotated upon the removal of pin 52 from its then located detent 50, in a counterclockwise position which like the aforestated clockwise position is also shown in broken lines in FIG. 10 which would have the effect of providing a shirred or rufflette drapery in a pleated configuration of a smaller width. 7

Accordingly, it will be readily understood by one skilled in the art that within each setting of the support plates 34 along the slot 36, aplurality of settings by rotating the rod 40 are available to provide a desired pleat width for a shirred or rufflette drapery. F urthermore, by utilizing both the linear and rotational adjustments hereinbefore described, a large range of adjustments will be provided although in each linear position there will be certain settings that will be available in another linear position if a rotational adjustment in the other linear position is made.

Turning next to FIG. 12, still another modification is shown which embodies the features of the instant invention. In this embodiment an elongated bar 54 corresponding to the length of the crossbar 12 is supported rearwardly of the expandable scissor linkage 13 of crossbar 12 so as to provide a backstop to serve as a gauge when attaching a non-pleated drapery of the shirred or rufflette types to the pins 23a of this embodiment. As shown, there is no attachment of the rear folds of the drapery 25 in this embodiment, however satisfactory results are obtained since the bar 54 insures that each pleat of the drapery 25 will be the same dimension. In order to support the bar 54 and to provide a plurality of fixed predetermined positions for the bar to be positioned at, a pair of support arms 55 are fastened at the ends of crossbar 12 and are directed rearwardly and horizontally therefrom. Each support arm has a plurality of equally spaced slots 56 to receive a pair of pins 57 which extend longitudinally outwardly from each end of the bar 54 and rest in adjacent slots 56. In order to provide adjustment, the bar 54 can be readily lifted and reinserted or successively rotated by virtue of the engagement of pins 57 with the slots 56 to a desired position. As with the embodiment shown in FIG. 7, this embodiment also readily accepts draperies of both the pleated and non-pleated type without the necessity of removing any structure or presenting an obstruction or safety hazard to the operator.

What is claimed is:

1. A drapery support assembly for supporting a drapery at its upper portion in a pleated configuration comprising:

a first plurality of spaced attachment means carried on the assembly in an elongated, generally horizontally aligned arrangement, with each successive one of said attachment means adapted to securely engage a successive one of a plurality of aligned adjacent folds in the upper portion of a drapery to be supported by the assembly, the plurality of aligned adjacent folds defining a portion of a pleated configuration; and l pleat width reference means comprising an elongated member adapted to be fixedly disposed generally parallel to said first plurality of attachment means and spaced therefrom in a generally horizontal alignment therewith and at a predetermined distance generally corresponding to the desired pleat width of the draperies to be supported by the assembly whereby upon each successive engagement of one of said attachment means with a fold in the upper portion of the drapery to be supported, the upper portion of the drapery can then be tautly positioned between said one of said attachment means and the pleat width reference means, return folded at said pleat width reference means and then tautly positioned between said pleat width reference means and the next successive one of said attachment means and engaged therewith, thereby having the upper portion of the drapery between said successive attachment means maintained in a pleated configuration. 2. The drapery support assembly as set forth in claim 1 further including means for selectively positioning and maintaining said pleat width reference means at any one of a plurality of predetermined distances from said first plurality of attachment means for supporting a drapery in a pleated configuration of desired pleat width.

3. The drapery support assembly as set forth in claim 2 wherein the spacing between each attachment means in said first plurality of attachment means is selectively expandable and retractable, thereby permitting the supported drapery to be folded in a pleated configuration prior to being removed from the assembly.

4. The drapery support assembly as set forth in claim 1 further comprising a second plurality of attachment means carried on said pleat width reference means whereby each successive return fold at the upper portion of the drapery to be supported can be engaged bya successive one of said second plurality of attachment means thereby maintaining each fold in the pleated configuration of a drapery supported by the assembly in engagement with the assembly.

5. The drapery support assembly as set forth in claim 4 further including means for selectively positioning and maintaining said pleat width reference means at any one of a plurality of predetermined distances from said first plurality of attachment means for supporting a drapery in a pleated configuration of desired pleat width and for removing the drapery from the assembly in its pleated configuration.

6. The drapery support assembly as set forth in claim 5 wherein the spacing between each attachment means in said first and second pluralities of attachment means is selectively expandable and retractable thereby permitting the supported drapery to be folded in a pleated configuration prior to being removed from the assembly.

7. The drapery support assembly set forth in claim 5 wherein said second plurality of attachment means are carried on said elongated member and said selective positioning and maintainin of said pleat width reference means 18 accomplis ed by rotating said elongated member into engagement with one of a plurality of positioning and stop means provided on the assembly.

8. The drapery support assembly set forth in claim 5 wherein said selective positioning and maintaining of said pleat width reference means is accomplished by linearly moving said elongated member in a generally horizontal direction into engagement with one of a plurality of positioning and locking means provided on the assembly.

. 9. The drapery support assembly set forth in claim 8 whereby the pleat width reference means may be selectively rotated about a fixed predetermined diameter to which it is affixed to the assembly, thereby bringing the said second plurality of attachment means closer to the said first plurality of attachment means to facilitate the removal of a supported drapery from the assembly in its pleated configuration.

Claims

1. A drapery support assembly for supporting a drapery at its upper portion in a pleated configuration comprising: a first plurality of spaced attachment means carried on the assembly in an elongated, generally horizontally aligned arrangement, with each successive one of said attachment means adapted to securely engage a successive one of a plurality of aligned adjacent folds in the upper portion of a drapery to be supported by the assembly, the plurality of aligned adjacent folds defining a portion of a pleated configuration; and pleat width reference means comprising an elongated member adapted to be fixedly disposed generally parallel to said first plurality of attachment means and spaced therefrom in a generally horizontal alignment therewith and at a predetermined distance generally corresponding to the desired pleat width of the draperies to be supported by the assembly whereby upon each successive engagement of one of said attachment means with a fold in the upper portion of the drapery to be supported, the upper portion of the drapery can then be tautly positioned between said one of said attachment means and the pleat width reference means, return folded at said pleat width reference means and then tautly positioned between said pleat width reference means and the next successive one of said attachment means and engaged therewith, thereby having the upper portion of the drapery between said successive attachment means maintained in a pleated configuration.

2. The drapery support assembly as set forth in claim 1 further including means for selectively positioning and maintaining said pleat width reference means at any one of a plurality of predetermined distances from said first plurality of attachment means for supporting a drapery in a pleated configuration of desired pleat width.

4. The drapery support assembly as set forth in claim 1 further comprising a second plurality of attachment means carried on said pleat width reference means whereby each successive return fold at the upper portion of the drapery to be supported can be engaged by a successive one of said second plurality of attachment means thereby maintaining each fold in the pleated configuration of a drapery supported by the assembly in engagement with the assembly.

7. The drapery support asseMbly set forth in claim 5 wherein said second plurality of attachment means are carried on said elongated member and said selective positioning and maintaining of said pleat width reference means is accomplished by rotating said elongated member into engagement with one of a plurality of positioning and stop means provided on the assembly.

9. The drapery support assembly set forth in claim 8 whereby the pleat width reference means may be selectively rotated about a fixed predetermined diameter to which it is affixed to the assembly, thereby bringing the said second plurality of attachment means closer to the said first plurality of attachment means to facilitate the removal of a supported drapery from the assembly in its pleated configuration.