WO2008016277A1

WO2008016277A1 - Motor device for an electric curtain

Info

Publication number: WO2008016277A1
Application number: PCT/KR2007/003739
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jun Ik Park
Original assignee: Junshade
Priority date: 2006-08-03
Filing date: 2007-08-03
Publication date: 2008-02-07
Also published as: KR200428891Y1

Abstract

Disclosed herein is a motor device for electric curtains. The motor device includes a motor, a shaped bracket including a central plate and two vertical plates, a cylindrical clutch unit passing through a plate surface of the central plate and connected with the transmission shaft of the motor, a rotational signal unit formed to have the shape of a cylinder that surrounds a side surface of the clutch unit, two or more optical sensors mounted to sense the states of the black and white bars, depending on the rotation of the rotational signal unit, through through-holes, and a signal processing unit having both a function of comparing information about the rotation of the rotational signal unit, which is collected from the optical sensors, with a preset value, and applying commands for interrupting or transmitting the rotational force to the clutch unit.

Description

MOTOR DEVICE FOR AN ELECTRIC CURTAIN

Technical Field

[1] The present invention relates to a motor device for electric curtains.

Background Art

[2] The present invention relates to a motor device for electric curtains and, more particularly, to a motor device which is mounted in the motor unit of an electric curtain, the opening and closing of which is performed using an electric device.

[3] In order to block outdoor light, such as sunlight, to prevent indoor light from escaping to the outside, to cover wall surfaces or structures installed on the wall surfaces, or to decorate the interior, various types of curtains hanging in front of wall surfaces are used.

[4] Such curtains have a considerably long history. In order for a person to conduct opening and closing by moving a curtain cloth in the left or right direction while directly holding the hem of the curtain cloth, a traditional curtain is generally configured such that the edge of the upper portion of the curtain cloth is connected to a plurality of movable pieces, which are connected to a curtain rail, which is attached to the surface of a ceiling, so as to enable lateral movement. Recently, in order to make curtain opening and closing manipulation easy, an electric curtain, which includes electrically movable pieces, which are moved by a power source, such as an electric motor, which generates power using electricity, and is configured such that a curtain cloth is opened or closed merely through a simple manipulation using a remote controller, has been popularized.

[5] In the case of the electric curtain, which is provided with the electric motor, which is not included in the construction the traditional curtain, as an essential element, in order to make manufacturing and installation easy, or in order to make repair and the replacement of parts easy in the case where trouble occurs, a curtain rail part 200, which is provided with a curtain rail, to which a curtain cloth to be moved is connected, and an electric motor unit 100, which includes an electric motor for generating power to move electrically movable pieces 210 of the curtain rail part 200, are generally configured to be separable from each other as separate parts, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3.

[6] In this case, the electric motor, which is supplied with power and generates mechanical force, is provided in the motor unit 100. A typical electric motor generates rotational force. The rotational force is transmitted via a power transmission means, such as a rotational shaft and a gear, and is converted into the lateral motion of the movable pieces 210 of the curtain rail part 200.

[7] However, in the case of a conventional electric curtain, in which only an electric motor and a means for detachably attaching the electric motor are included in the motor unit 100, a user must be located at the place where a curtain is located and must open and close the curtain using an opening and closing switch to operate the electric motor. The reason for this is because it must be possible for the user to check the degree of opening or closing of the curtain with his or her eyes in order to precisely adjust the degree of opening or closing of the curtain, and thus the degree of opening or closing of the curtain must be set by operating the electric motor.

[8] Accordingly, in the conventional electric curtain, it is almost impossible to remotely open and close the curtain from a remote location, at which the curtain cannot be checked, so that there is inconvenience in that the user must always personally visit the place where the curtain is located in order to open or close the curtain. Furthermore, it is impossible to integrate curtains with the recent trend of ubiquity, which enables the adjustment of various home electronic appliances in a home, heating, lighting, etc. from the outside of the home. Disclosure of Invention Technical Problem

[9] In order to overcome the problems of the conventional electric curtain, described above, an object of the present invention is to provide a motor device for electric curtains, which, even when a user is not located at a place where an electric curtain can be checked with his or her eyes, checks information about the movement and states of the curtain using its functions, thus automatically controlling the degree of opening or closing of the curtain according to a preset value, or which allows the user to adjust the degree of opening or closing of the curtain using a remote controller while checking the states of the curtain even from a remote location at which the curtain cannot be checked with his or her eyes.

Advantageous Effects

[10] According to the above-described construction, the motor device for electric curtains according to the present invention has the following effects.

[11] First, a user who is located at a location at which an electronic curtain cannot be checked with his or her eyes can open and close the curtain.

[12] Second, two states, such as the complete opening or complete closing of the curtain, can be set and, in addition, the user can accurately check information about the states of the curtain even from a remote location, and thus the opening and closing of the curtain can be precisely controlled to a desired level. Brief Description of the Drawings [13] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a motor device for electric curtains according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

[14] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an electric curtain having a typical structure; and

[15] FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the electric curtain of FIG. 2.

[16] <Description of reference numerals of principle elements>

[17] 5: electric wires 10: motor

[18] 20: bracket 21 : central plate

[19] 22: vertical plates 23: connection plates

[20] 25: bolt holes 30: clutch unit

[21] 40: rotational signal unit

[22] 41: black and white bars 50: through-holes

[23] 60: optical sensors 70: gear unit

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[24] In order to accomplish the above object, the motor device for electric curtains according to the present invention includes: an electric motor; a bracket formed from a piece bent in a 'D' shape, provided with a central plate, which corresponds to the central part of the D-shaped piece, and two vertical plates, which extend from both edges of the central plate parallel to each other, and configured such that connection plates, each having bolt holes therein, are formed at the respective ends of the two vertical plates through bending, and the bent obtuse side surfaces of the central plate are coupled with the side surface of a transmission shaft of the electric motor; a cylindrical clutch unit passing through the plate surface of the central plate, connected with the transmission shaft of the motor, and configured to interrupt or transmit rotational force from the transmission shaft; a rotational signal unit formed to have the shape of a cylinder that surrounds the side surface of the clutch unit, and configured such that black and white bars having identical patterns, which are vertically long and are narrow, are alternately coupled to the outer circumferential surface thereof, and rotate together with the rotation of the transmission shaft; two or more through-holes formed in either one of the vertical plates of the bracket so that the black and white bars can be observed from a side opposite the rotational signal unit; two or more optical sensors mounted to sense the states of the black and white bars, depending on the rotation of the rotational signal unit, through the through-holes; and a signal processing unit having both a function of comparing information about the rotation of the rotational signal unit, which is collected from the optical sensors, with a preset value, and applying commands for interrupting or transmitting the rotational force to the clutch unit, and a function of converting the information, which is collected from the optical sensors, into predetermined information. [25] In this case, it is preferred that the motor device further include a gear unit that is disposed between the motor and the bracket.

[26] The construction of the motor device for electric curtains according to the present invention is described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which a preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown.

[27] FIG. 1 is a view showing a preferred embodiment of a motor device including an electric motor 10 according to the present invention, which is included in the motor unit 100, shown in FIGS, 2 and 3.

[28] As shown in FIG. 1, in the motor device according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a motor 10, to the lower surface of which electric wires 5 are connected, is located in the lower portion of the drawing. In this state, an electric shaft (not shown) for transmitting power, which is generated by the motor 10, to the outside, protrudes upwards. A separate power transmission means is connected in the protruding direction of the transmission shaft.

[29] A D-shaped bracket 20 is mounted in the direction of the transmission shaft of the motor 10. According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a gear unit 70 is disposed between the bracket 20 and the motor 10. The gear unit 70 increases or decreases the number of rotations of the transmission shaft to an appropriate level using the power generated by the motor 10.

[30] Meanwhile, the D-shaped bracket 20 is formed by bending a metal plate in a 'D' shape. In the present invention, the portion that is located at the center of the bracket

20 is defined as a central plate 21, and two portions that are bent from the central plate

21 and extend from the central plate 21 parallel to each other are defined as vertical plates 22. As shown in the drawing, the bent obtuse side surfaces of the central plate 21 are coupled with the upper surface of the gear unit 70.

[31] Furthermore, connection plates 23, each having bolt holes 25 therein, are formed at respective ends of the vertical plates 22 of the bracket 20 through bending, and connection means, such as bolts, are fastened via the bolt holes 25 of the bracket 20. Accordingly, a structure in which the motor device according to the present invention can be easily mounted to the inner surfaces of the upper portion of the motor unit 100 shown in FIG. 3 is realized.

[32] A cylindrical clutch unit 30, which extends from the gear unit 70, passes through the central plate 21 transmission and is connected with the shaft, is mounted on the opposite side of the gear unit 70, that is, on the upper side in the drawing, while the central plate 21 of the bracket 20 is interposed.

[33] A typical clutch unit 30, which functions to interrupt or transmit the rotational force of the electric motor for generating rotational force, may be used for the clutch unit 30. It is preferred that a clutch unit 30, which operates in response to external signals that are received through the electric wires, be provided.

[34] The above-described clutch unit 30 operates in response to commands from a signal processing unit, which will be described later, and the signal processing unit also operates in response to signals from optical sensors 60, which will be described later.

[35] A cylindrical rotational signal unit 40, which rotates together with the rotation of the transmission shaft of the gear unit 70 (or the motor 10), is rotatably connected to the outer circumferential surface of the clutch unit 30.

[36] Black and white bars 41 having the same pattern, which are vertically long and are narrow, are repeatedly coupled to the outer circumferential surface of the rotational signal unit 40. The number of rotations of the rotational signal unit 40, as described above, is the same as that of the transmission shaft. Two or more through-holes 50 are formed in the vertical plates 22 of the bracket 20 and are formed at respective locations at which the black and white bars 41 can be observed.

[37] The optical sensors 60 are mounted in the respective through-holes 50.

Furthermore, the optical sensors 60 can sense the rotation of the rotational signal unit 40 by sensing the black and white bars 41.

[38] That is, a single optical sensor 60 can sense the degree of rotation of the transmission shaft according to the number of repetitions of black and white regions. In this case, a signal indicating the sensed degree of rotation of the transmission shaft may be transmitted to the signal processing unit, and may be converted into the moved distance of the electrically movable pieces 210 shown in FIG. 3. Accordingly, in the case where the curtain is completely opened or closed, the moved distance of the electrically movable pieces 210 is converted into the number of rotations of the rotational signal unit 40. In this case, a setting is made such that a signal for interrupting the power from the motor 10 is applied to the clutch unit 70, and thus a construction can be made such that the opening and closing of the curtain can be stopped at an appropriate location only through the manipulation of a switch in the state in which a user personally checks the degree of opening or closing.

[39] Furthermore, the optical sensors 60 are constructed using two or more optical sensors. In the case where two or more optical sensors 60 are mounted such that a difference in the lateral locations of sensed black and white bars 41 can occur, the value that is obtained by the summation or multiplication of the amounts of light which are received from the received optical sensors 60 varies according to the actual amount of rotation.

[40] Accordingly, using this, even though the values for the start and end points of a curtain opening or closing operation are not separately given, state information that indicates the degree to which the curtain is currently and arbitrarily opened can be accurately checked. Such information is transmitted to a remote controller, which is located at a remote location, via the signal processing unit, so that the user can determine the degree of opening or closing of the curtain while checking the current state of the curtain based on the information, therefore the opening and closing of the curtain can be precisely controlled to a desired level.

[41] Furthermore, in the case where the optical sensors 60 are constructed using two optical sensors, there is another advantage in that the rotational direction of the rotational signal unit 40 can be determined by checking the changed pattern of the optical signals that are received by the two optical sensors 60, and thus whether the curtain, which is operating, is in an opened state or in a closed state can be easily determined.

[42] As an additional result, the function of the clutch unit 30 is not limited to a passive one of automatically interrupting or transmitting power in response to commands from the signal processing unit according to a preset value, but may be extended so as to include a function of allowing a user to arbitrarily interrupt or allow the transmission of power while actively checking the states of the curtain.

[43] As described above, although the present invention has been described in conjunction with the drawings of a preferred embodiment, the present invention is not limited to the construction and operation of the embodiment that has been shown and described. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention can be modified in various ways without departing from the spirit and scope of the accompanying claims. Accordingly, it should be appreciated that all of the modifications and the equivalents thereof are included in the scope of the present invention.

Claims

[1] A motor device for electric curtains, comprising: an electric motor (10); a bracket (20) formed from a piece bent in a 'D' shape, provided with a central plate (21), which corresponds to a central part of the D-shaped piece, and two vertical plates (22), which extend from both edges of the central plate (21) parallel to each other, and configured such that connection plates (23), each having bolt holes (25) therein, are formed at respective ends of the two vertical plates (22) through bending, and bent obtuse side surfaces of the central plate (21) are coupled with a side surface of a transmission shaft of the electric motor; a cylindrical clutch unit (30) passing through a plate surface of the central plate (21), connected with the transmission shaft of the motor (10), and configured to interrupt or transmit rotational force from the transmission shaft; a rotational signal unit (40) formed to have a shape of a cylinder that surrounds a side surface of the clutch unit (30), and configured such that black and white bars (41) having identical patterns, which are vertically long and are narrow, are alternately coupled to an outer circumferential surface thereof, and rotate together with rotation of the transmission shaft; two or more through-holes (50) formed in any one of the vertical plates (22) of the bracket so that the black and white bars (41) can be observed from a side opposite the rotational signal unit (40); two or more optical sensors (60) mounted to sense states of the black and white bars (41), depending on the rotation of the rotational signal unit (40), through the through-holes (50); and a signal processing unit having both a function of comparing information about the rotation of the rotational signal unit (40), which is collected from the optical sensors (60), with a preset value, and applying commands for interrupting or transmitting the rotational force to the clutch unit (30), and a function of converting the information, which is collected from the optical sensors (60), into specific information.

[2] The motor device according to claim 1, further comprising a gear unit (70) that is disposed between the motor and the bracket.