U.S. patent application number 11/023560 was filed with the patent office on 2006-06-29 for winding mechanism of blind.
Invention is credited to Henry Lin.
Application Number | 20060137830 11/023560 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 36610040 |
Filed Date | 2006-06-29 |
United States Patent
Application |
20060137830 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Lin; Henry |
June 29, 2006 |
Winding mechanism of blind
Abstract
A winding mechanism mounts at a groove of a head rail of a blind
and comprises a cord wrapped around a bottom stiffener strip and
the head rail, a rope roller, a rope wound around the rope roller
and coupled to the cord, a first roller coupled to the rope roller
by gear, a second roller, and an S-shaped spring interconnected the
first and second rollers, the spring adapted to exert a force to
support the drapery material. In a downward pulling of the
stiffener strip the rope roller rotates to release the rope and the
cord with one worm section of the spring being further wound and
the other worm section thereof being loosened for reaching a
balance with the blind. An upward pulling of the same has an
opposite effect. The drapery material is able to stay at any
position in response to stopping the rope roller.
Inventors: |
Lin; Henry; (Taipei,
TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
TROXELL LAW OFFICE PLLC
SUITE 1404
5205 LESSBURG PIKE
FALLS CHURCH
VA
22041
US
|
Family ID: |
36610040 |
Appl. No.: |
11/023560 |
Filed: |
December 29, 2004 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
160/84.04 |
Current CPC
Class: |
E06B 9/60 20130101; E06B
9/322 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
160/084.04 |
International
Class: |
A47H 5/00 20060101
A47H005/00 |
Claims
1. A winding mechanism mountable at a groove of a head rail of a
blind, the blind further including a bottom stiffener strip and a
sheet of drapery material coupled between the head rail and the
stiffener strip, comprising: a cord having one end tied off at a
first position of the stiffener strip, passed one side of the sheet
of drapery material, the head rail, and the other side of the sheet
of drapery material, and having the other end tied off at a second
position of the stiffener strip; a rope roller; a rope wound around
the rope roller and coupled to the cord; a first roller rotated
with the rope roller; a second roller; and a spring interconnected
the first roller and the second roller, the spring including two
worm sections together formed an S, the spring adapted to exert a
force to support the weight of the sheet of drapery material,
wherein in a downward pulling of the stiffener strip the rope
roller rotates to release the rope and the cord for lowering the
sheet of drapery material with one worm section being further wound
and the other worm section being loosened as a counterweight of the
sheet of drapery material so as to reach a balance, thereby
maintaining the sheet of drapery material at any one of a plurality
of positions from a fully raised position to a fully lowered
position in response to stopping the rope roller, and in an upward
pulling of the stiffener strip the rope roller rotates in an
opposite direction to wind the rope and the cord for lifting the
sheet of drapery material with one worm section being loosened and
the other worm section being further wound as a counterweight of
the sheet of drapery material so as to reach a balance, thereby
maintaining the sheet of drapery material at any one of a plurality
of positions from the fully raised position to the fully lowered
position in response to stopping the rope roller.
2. The winding mechanism of claim 1, wherein the winding mechanism
further comprises a retaining member including an elongate seat
engaged with a bottom surface of the stiffener strip, and two
upwardly curved snapping edges along front end rear edges of the
seat for clamping the stiffener strip.
3. The winding mechanism of claim 1, wherein the rope roller
comprises a first gear and the first roller comprises a second gear
meshed with the first gear such that the rope roller and the first
roller are adapted to rotate in opposite directions.
4. The winding mechanism of claim 1, further comprising a plurality
of second rope rollers coupled to the spring.
5. The winding mechanism of claim 1, further comprising a plurality
of spaced guide rollers disposed in the groove and two holes formed
on a bottom of the groove, and wherein the guide rollers are
coupled together by winding the cord therearound, and two ends of
the cord are adapted to pass the holes.
6. The winding mechanism of claim 1, wherein the rope is wound in a
direction opposite to that of each of the worm sections.
7. The winding mechanism of claim 1, comprising a case for
receiving the rope roller, the first roller, and the second roller
therein.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to blinds and more
particularly to a winding mechanism of a blind (e.g., roll-up or
Venetian blind) with improved characteristics.
[0003] 2. Related Art
[0004] Typically, a blind (e.g., roll-up or Venetian blind) is
adapted to raise or lower by pulling a lift cord coupled to a
winding mechanism. However, it is possible that a child may tie the
exposed cord about the neck to cause danger or even death. Thus,
this is not safe.
[0005] A conventional roll-up blind having a hidden lift cord is
shown in FIG. 1 and comprises a head rail 1 fixed to a top of
window frame, two spaced, opposite springs 2 in the head rail 1, a
bottom stiffener strip 3, a plurality of folds 4 coupled between
the head rail 1 and the stiffener strip 3, each fold 4 having two
openings proximate both sides, two side rails 5 and 6 of U-section
fixed at both sides of the window frame, the side rails 5 and 6
adapted to allow both ends of the folds 4 to longitudinally slide
therein, and two cords 7 and 8 in which the cord 7 has one end
passed the left openings to couple to one spring 2 and the other
end tied off at the left side rail 5, and the cord 8 has one end
passed the right openings to couple to the other spring 2 and the
other end tied off at the right side rail 6.
[0006] However, the previous design suffered from several
disadvantages. For example, the springs 2 tend to lose its
elasticity after a predetermined times of lowering or raising
operation of the folds 4. And in turn, it may compromise the
positioning capability of folds 4 by operating the cords 7 and 8.
Further, there are no guide members for the cords 7 and 8 in the
head rail 1 and the stiffener strip 3. It may increase friction in
pulling the cords 7 and 8 during operation. To the worse, the cords
7 and 8 may break after a predetermined times of lowering or
raising operation. Furthermore, the stiffener strip 3 is relatively
thin, resulting in a poor maneuverability of the blind.
[0007] Thus, it is desirable to provide an improved winding
mechanism of blind in order to overcome the above drawbacks of
prior art.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] It is therefore an object of the present invention to
provide a winding mechanism mountable at a groove of a head rail of
a blind, the blind further including a bottom stiffener strip and a
sheet of drapery material coupled between the head rail and the
stiffener strip, comprising a cord having one end tied off at a
first position of the stiffener strip, passed one side of the sheet
of drapery material, the head rail, and the other side of the sheet
of drapery material, and having the other end tied off at a second
position of the stiffener strip; a rope roller; a rope wound around
the rope roller and coupled to the cord; a first roller rotated
with the rope roller by gear meshing; a second roller; and a spring
interconnected the first roller and the second roller, the spring
including two worm sections together formed an S, the spring
adapted to exert a force to support the weight of the sheet of
drapery material, wherein in a downward pulling of the stiffener
strip the rope roller rotates to release the rope and the cord for
lowering the sheet of drapery material with one worm section being
further wound and the other worm section being loosened as a
counterweight of the sheet of drapery material so as to reach a
balance, thereby maintaining the sheet of drapery material at any
one of a plurality of positions from a fully raised position to a
fully lowered position in response to stopping the rope roller, and
in an upward pulling of the stiffener strip the rope roller rotates
in an opposite direction to wind the rope and the cord for lifting
the sheet of drapery material with one worm section being loosened
and the other worm section being further wound as a counterweight
of the sheet of drapery material so as to reach a balance, thereby
maintaining the sheet of drapery material at any one of a plurality
of positions from the fully raised position to the fully lowered
position in response to stopping the rope roller.
[0009] The above and other objects, features and advantages of the
present invention will become apparent from the following detailed
description taken with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0010] FIG. 1 is a front view of a conventional roll-up blind;
[0011] FIG. 2 is an exploded view of a first preferred embodiment
of winding mechanism to be mounted on a roll-up blind according to
the invention;
[0012] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the assembled winding
mechanism and blind of FIG. 2;
[0013] FIG. 4 is a top view in part section of the winding
mechanism;
[0014] FIG. 5 is a greatly enlarged, exploded view of the winding
mechanism;
[0015] FIGS. 6 and 7 are transverse and longitudinal sectional
views of the winding mechanism respectively;
[0016] FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the raised blind of the
invention; and
[0017] FIGS. 9 and 10 are transverse and longitudinal sectional
views of a second preferred embodiment of winding mechanism of
blind according to the invention respectively.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0018] Referring to FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, there is shown a winding
mechanism 40 in accordance with a first preferred embodiment of the
invention. The winding mechanism 40 is to be mounted on a roll-up
blind 30 comprising a head rail 10 of U-section, a bottom stiffener
strip 20, and a sheet of drapery material 30 coupled between the
head rail 10 and the stiffener strip 20 and comprised of a
plurality of folds 31 each having two openings 32 proximate both
sides. A plurality of spaced guide rollers 11, 12, 14, and 15 and
the winding mechanism 40 are disposed in a groove 11 of the head
rail 10. The guide rollers 11, 12, 14, and 15 are coupled together
by a continuous cord 13 wound around them. Two ends of the cord 13
pass two bottom apertures (not shown) and the openings 32 to tie
off in the stiffener strip 20. The guide rollers 11, 12, 14, and 15
are adapted to guide the cord 13 in its pulling operation (i.e.,
more smooth). Note that the sheet of drapery material 30 and its
folds 31 of the roll-up blind in this embodiment can be replaced by
slats of a Venetian blind in the other embodiment.
[0019] Referring to FIGS. 5 to 7, the winding mechanism 40
comprises a case 41 open to its bottom, the case 41 having an
internal space 42 for mounting a rope roller 43, a first roller 44,
and a second roller 45 therein. Three shafts 46 each has two ends
fixed on two opposite walls of the case 41 with the rope roller 43,
the first roller 44, or the second roller 45 rotatably put thereon.
A spring 47 is interconnected the first roller 44 and the second
roller 45. The spring 47 comprises two worm sections 471 and 472
together formed an S. The spring 47 can exert a force to support
the weight of the sheet of drapery material 30. A free end 48 of
the worm section 472 is fixed on the first roller 44. A long rope
49 is wound around the rope roller 43 and the guide rollers 11, 12,
14, and 15 and its winding is opposite to that of each of the worm
sections 471 and 472. One end of the rope 49 passes one of two
slits 411 on one side surface of the case 41 to couple to the cord
13. As such, the rope 49 and the cord 13 can operate as a whole.
The rope roller 43 comprises a gear 412 at one end to be meshed
with a gear 413 of the first roller 44 such that the rope roller 43
and the first roller 44 can rotate in opposite directions.
[0020] The S-shaped spring 47 is energized due to the same winding
direction of the worm sections 471 and 472 and the weight of the
sheet of drapery material 30. A downward pulling of the stiffener
strip 20 by the hand together with the weight of the sheet of
drapery material 30 can overcome an upward pulling force of the
cord 13 provided by the spring 47. As such, the rope roller 43
rotates to release the rope 49 and thus the cord 13 so as to lower
the sheet of drapery material 30. The worm section 471 is wound
further (i.e., store energy) and the worm section 472 is loosened
to compensate the further winding of the worm section 471 during
the release. Such serves as a counterweight of the sheet of drapery
material 30 so as to reach a balance. As a result, the sheet of
drapery material 30 is adapted to stay at any one of a plurality of
positions from the fully raised position to the fully lowered
position by stopping the rope roller 43.
[0021] Referring to FIG. 8, an upward pulling of the stiffener
strip 20 by the hand together with the compression force of the
spring 47 can overcome the weight of the sheet of drapery material
30. For reaching a balance, the worm section 471 coupled to the
first roller 44 begins to release and the worm section 472 coupled
to the second roller 45 begins to wind. A force exerted onto the
rope roller 43 by the spring 47 is thus adjusted. Also, a rotation
of the first roller 44 will cause the rope roller 43 to rotate the
same for winding the rope 49. Likewise, the sheet of drapery
material 30 is adapted to stay at any one of a plurality of
positions from the fully raised position to the fully lowered
position by stopping the rope roller 43.
[0022] Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3 again, the winding mechanism 40
further comprises a retaining member 50 including an elongate seat
51 engaged with a bottom surface of the stiffener strip 20 and two
upwardly curved snapping edges 52 along front end rear edges of the
seat 51 for clamping the stiffener strip 20. The provision of the
retaining member 50 aims at facilitating the upward or downward
pulling the stiffener strip 20 by the hand.
[0023] Referring to FIGS. 9 and 10, a second preferred embodiment
of winding mechanism 60 of blind according to the invention is
shown. The winding mechanism 60 comprises a case 61 open to its
bottom, the case 61 having an internal space 62 for mounting a
third roller 63 and a fourth roller 64 therein. Two shafts 65 each
has two ends fixed on two opposite walls of the case 61 with the
third roller 63 and the fourth roller 64 rotatably put thereon. An
S-shaped spring 66 is interconnected the third roller 63 and the
fourth roller 64. A free end of the worm section 66 is fixed on the
third roller 63. A rope roller 67 is coaxially formed at one side
of the third roller 63. A long rope 68 is wound around the rope
roller 67. One end of the rope 68 passes a slit on one side surface
of the case 61 to couple to a cord 70. As such, the rope 68 and the
cord 70 can operate as a whole.
[0024] In practice, each of the springs 47 and 66 can control one
or more rope rollers 43 for accommodating different sizes of the
blind. In brief, the invention is safe and smooth in its
operation.
[0025] While the invention herein disclosed has been described by
means of specific embodiments, numerous modifications and
variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art
without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention set
forth in the claims.
* * * * *