U.S. patent application number 12/556365 was filed with the patent office on 2011-03-10 for safety buckle for a window blind assembly.
Invention is credited to Shih-Ming Lin.
Application Number | 20110056633 12/556365 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 43646762 |
Filed Date | 2011-03-10 |
United States Patent
Application |
20110056633 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Lin; Shih-Ming |
March 10, 2011 |
SAFETY BUCKLE FOR A WINDOW BLIND ASSEMBLY
Abstract
A safety buckle for a window blind assembly includes a
connecting part, a bar section, and a pair of surrounding arms. The
connecting part is adapted for mounting on one side of the window
blind assembly, and has two ends spaced apart from each other in a
longitudinal direction. The bar section extends along the
longitudinal direction and is connected to the two ends of the
connecting part. Each of the surrounding arms extends along an arc
from a corresponding one of the ends of the connecting part toward
another one of the ends of the connecting part. The surrounding
arms cooperate with the bar section to define a buckle hole that is
adapted for extension of a pull cord unit of the window blind
assembly therethrough. The surrounding arms define an escape path
therebetween that is in spatial communication with the buckle
hole.
Inventors: |
Lin; Shih-Ming; (Chiayi
Hsien, TW) |
Family ID: |
43646762 |
Appl. No.: |
12/556365 |
Filed: |
September 9, 2009 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
160/340 ;
160/84.04 |
Current CPC
Class: |
E06B 2009/2622 20130101;
E06B 9/262 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
160/340 |
International
Class: |
A47H 5/02 20060101
A47H005/02 |
Claims
1. A safety buckle for a window blind assembly, the window blind
assembly including a top rail, a drawable light-blocking unit hung
from the top rail, and a pull cord unit for drawing up and lowering
the drawable light-blocking unit, said safety buckle comprising: a
connecting part adapted for mounting on one side of the
light-blocking unit of the window blind assembly, said connecting
part having two ends spaced apart from each other in a longitudinal
direction; a bar section that extends along the longitudinal
direction and that is connected to said two ends of said connecting
part; and a pair of surrounding arms, each of said surrounding arms
extending along an arc from a corresponding one of said ends of
said connecting part toward another one of said ends of said
connecting part, said surrounding arms cooperating with said bar
section to define a buckle hole that is adapted for extension of
the pull cord unit of the window blind assembly therethrough;
wherein said surrounding arms define an escape path therebetween
that is in spatial communication with said buckle hole, and are
configured to allow the pull cord unit to escape from said buckle
hole into said escape path when the pull cord unit is subjected to
a pulling force in a transverse direction that is transverse to the
longitudinal direction and that is away from said bar section.
2. The safety buckle for a window blind assembly as claimed in
claim 1, wherein each of said surrounding arms includes a
connecting section extending from the corresponding one of said
ends of said connecting part, and a plate section extending from
said connecting section toward another one of said ends of said
connecting part; said plate sections being radially spaced apart
from each other and cooperating to define said escape path; for
each of said surrounding arms, said plate section having a free end
that is distal from said connection section thereof and that is
spaced apart from said connecting section of another one of said
surrounding arms.
3. The safety buckle for a window blind assembly as claimed in
claim 2, wherein, for each of said surrounding arms, said plate
section has a thickness smaller than that of said connecting
section.
4. The safety buckle for a window blind assembly as claimed in
claim 3, wherein each of said connecting sections of said
surrounding arms subtends an arc length of 50 degrees, and each of
said plate sections subtends an arc length of 70 degrees.
5. The safety buckle for a window blind assembly as claimed in
claim 1, wherein said connecting part and said buckle hole are
semi-circular in shape.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to a safety buckle for a
window blind assembly, more particularly to a safety buckle that is
mounted on a window blind assembly and that is configured to allow
a pull cord unit of the window blind assembly extending
therethrough to escape therefrom.
[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0004] Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional window blind assembly is
exemplified as a roman blind 1 that includes a top rail 11 adapted
to be disposed at a top edge of a window, a drawable light-blocking
curtain 12 hung from the top rail 11, a plurality of buckles 13
disposed at a rear side of the light-blocking curtain 12, and a
pull cord 14 fixedly connected to a lower section 121 of the
light-blocking curtain 12 for drawing up and lowering the
light-blocking curtain 12. The buckles 13 are vertically spaced
apart from each other, and the pull cord 14 vertically extends
through each of the buckles 13.
[0005] However, such an arrangement is dangerous for children
playing with the roman blind 1. It is possible that a child extends
his/her neck between the light-blocking curtain 12 and the pull
cord 14 when playing with the roman blind 1, and it may be
difficult for the child to escape when the child's neck is
restricted therebetween.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide
a safety buckle for a window blind assembly that can alleviate
accidental strangulation.
[0007] According to the present invention, a safety buckle for a
window blind assembly comprises a connecting part, a bar section,
and a pair of surrounding arms. The window blind assembly includes
a top rail, a drawable light-blocking unit hung from the top rail,
and a pull cord unit for drawing up and lowering the drawable
light-blocking unit.
[0008] The connecting part is adapted for mounting on one side of
the light-blocking unit of the window blind assembly. The
connecting part has two ends spaced apart from each other in a
longitudinal direction. The bar section extends along the
longitudinal direction and is connected to the two ends of the
connecting part. Each of the surrounding arms extends along an arc
from a corresponding one of the ends of the connecting part toward
another one of the ends of the connecting part. The surrounding
arms cooperate with the bar section to define a buckle hole that is
adapted for extension of the pull cord unit of the window blind
assembly therethrough.
[0009] The surrounding arms define an escape path therebetween that
is in spatial communication with the buckle hole, and are
configured to allow the pull cord unit to escape from the buckle
hole into the escape path when the pull cord unit is subjected to a
pulling force in a transverse direction that is transverse to the
longitudinal direction and that is away from the bar section.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0010] Other features and advantages of the present invention will
become apparent in the following detailed description of the
preferred embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings,
of which:
[0011] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional roman
blind;
[0012] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a window blind assembly
provided with safety buckles of the preferred embodiment of the
present invention;
[0013] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the safety buckle of the
preferred embodiment mounted on a curtain of the window blind
assembly;
[0014] FIG. 4 is a top view of the safety buckle of the preferred
embodiment;
[0015] FIG. 5 is a side view of the safety buckle of the preferred
embodiment mounted on the curtain of the window blind assembly;
[0016] FIG. 6 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 3 for
illustrating a child extending his/her neck between the curtain and
a pull cord unit of the window blind assembly;
[0017] FIG. 7 is a top view similar to FIG. 4 for illustrating the
pull cord unit escaping from a buckle hole into an escape path of
the safety buckle of the preferred embodiment; and
[0018] FIG. 8 is a top view similar to FIG. 7 for illustrating the
pull cord escaping from the escape path.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0019] Referring to FIGS. 2 to 4, the preferred embodiment of a
safety buckle 4 of the present invention is disposed at a window
blind assembly 3. The window blind assembly 3 includes a top rail
31, a drawable light-blocking unit 32 hung from the top rail 31,
and a pull cord unit 33 for drawing up and lowering the drawable
light-blocking unit 32. The drawable light-blocking unit 32
includes a curtain 321, and a pair of connecting straps 322
disposed at a rear side of the curtain 321 and spaced apart from
each other in a right-left direction. The pull cord unit 33
includes two pull cords 331 extending downwardly from the top rail
31 and connected to a lower section 323 of the curtain 321. Since
the structure of the window blind assembly 3 is well known to those
skilled in the art and since the feature of this invention does not
reside therein, further details thereof will be omitted herein for
the sake of brevity.
[0020] It should be noted that there are two safety buckles 4
attached to the connecting straps 322 of the light-blocking unit 32
of the window blind assembly 3, respectively. In other embodiments,
the safety buckles 4 and corresponding connecting straps 322 may be
more than two in number. Each of the safety buckles 4 includes a
connecting part 412, a bar section 411, and a pair of surrounding
arms 42.
[0021] The connecting part 412 is attached to the corresponding one
of the connecting straps 322, and has two ends 413 spaced apart
from each other in a longitudinal direction (i.e., a right-left
direction). In this embodiment, the connecting part 412 is
semi-circular in shape. The bar section 411 extends along the
longitudinal direction, and is connected to the two ends 413 of the
connecting part 412.
[0022] Each of the surrounding arms 42 extends along an arc from a
corresponding one of the ends 413 of the connecting part 412 toward
another one of the ends 413 of the connecting part 412. Each of the
surrounding arms 42 includes a connecting section 421 extending
from the corresponding one of the ends 413 of the connecting part
412, and a plate section 422 extending from the connecting section
421 toward another one of the ends 413 of the connecting part 412.
For each of the surrounding arms 42, the plate section 422 includes
a connecting end 423 connected to the connecting section 421 of the
corresponding one of the surrounding arms 42, and a free end 424.
Specifically, the plate section 422 has a thickness smaller than
that of the connecting section 421. The surrounding arms 42
cooperate with the bar section 411 to define a buckle hole 43 for
extension of a corresponding one of the pull cords 331 of the pull
cord unit 33 of the window blind assembly 3 therethrough.
[0023] The plate sections 422 are radially spaced apart from each
other, and cooperate to define an escape path 44 therebetween that
is in spatial communication with the buckle hole 43. For each of
the plate sections 422, the free end 424 is distal from the
connection section 421 of a corresponding one of the surrounding
arms 42, and is spaced apart from the connecting section 421 of
another one of the surrounding arms 42 to define an access 441 of
the escape path 44. Such configuration of the surrounding arms 42
allows the pull cord unit 33 to escape from the buckle hole 43 into
the escape path 44 when the pull cord 331 is subjected to a pulling
force in a transverse direction that is transverse to the
longitudinal direction and that is away from the bar section
411.
[0024] In this embodiment, the safety buckles 4 are generally
circular in shape, and the connecting part 412 and the buckle hole
43 are generally semi-circular in shape. Each of the connecting
sections 421 of the surrounding arms 42 subtends an arc length of
about 50 degrees, and each of the plate sections 422 subtends an
arc length of about 70 degrees. It is noted that the actual
configuration of the safety buckles 4 may vary in other embodiments
of the invention.
[0025] Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, there is a space 34 between each
of the pull cords 331 and the curtain 321. When a child plays with
the window blind assembly 3, it is possible that the child extends
his/her neck into the space 34 and is restricted therein as shown
in FIG. 6. When the child struggles to free himself/herself, the
pull cord 331 is subjected to the pulling force, and a moving
direction of the pull cord 331 is limited by the bar section 411,
i.e., movement of the pull cord 331 toward the curtain 321 is
limited by the bar section 411. The pull cord 331 can escape from
the buckle hole 43 into the escape path 44, and can further escape
from the escape path 44 through the accesses 441 thereof. The space
34 is widened, and makes it easier for the child to free his/her
neck, thereby alleviating accidental strangulation. Moreover, the
plate sections 422 of the surrounding arms 42 can deform outwardly
or even break as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 when the pulling force is
sufficiently strong, such that the pull cord 331 can also escape
from the safety buckles 4.
[0026] While the present invention has been described in connection
with what is considered the most practical and preferred
embodiment, it is understood that this invention is not limited to
the disclosed embodiment but is intended to cover various
arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest
interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and
equivalent arrangements.
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