U.S. patent application number 12/773276 was filed with the patent office on 2011-08-11 for cord operated roman shade.
This patent application is currently assigned to NIEN MADE ENTERPRISE CO., LTD.. Invention is credited to Han Hsiang Hsu, Yu-Che Wen.
Application Number | 20110192549 12/773276 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 44352743 |
Filed Date | 2011-08-11 |
United States Patent
Application |
20110192549 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Wen; Yu-Che ; et
al. |
August 11, 2011 |
CORD OPERATED ROMAN SHADE
Abstract
A roman shade of the present invention is operated by a cord to
fold and unfold it. The cord is connected with a second device to
be attracted by a first device provided on a valance adjacent to a
bottom rail. The second device and the first device will separate
when the cord is pulled with strength greater than a magnetic force
between second device and the first device to avoid the cord
dropping down and winding around neck or other body parts of the
kids nearby.
Inventors: |
Wen; Yu-Che; (Taoyuan
County, TW) ; Hsu; Han Hsiang; (Kaohsiung City,
TW) |
Assignee: |
NIEN MADE ENTERPRISE CO.,
LTD.
Taichung City
TW
|
Family ID: |
44352743 |
Appl. No.: |
12/773276 |
Filed: |
May 4, 2010 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
160/84.04 |
Current CPC
Class: |
E06B 9/262 20130101;
E06B 2009/2622 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
160/84.04 |
International
Class: |
A47H 5/02 20060101
A47H005/02 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Feb 11, 2010 |
TW |
099203048 |
Claims
1. A roman shade, comprising: a shade member having a top rail, a
bottom rail, and a valance with opposite ends connected to the top
rail and the bottom rail; and a cord assembly having a positioning
unit provided on the shade member adjacent to the top rail, a first
device provided on the shade member adjacent to the bottom rail, a
second device magnetically attracted by the first device, and at
least a cord with an end fastened to the second device and an
opposite end passing through the positioning unit for manipulation
to fold and unfold the valance.
2. The roman shade as defined in claim 1, wherein the cord assembly
further includes a flexible device surrounding the second
device.
3. The roman shade as defined in claim 1, wherein at least one of
the first device and the second device is a magnet.
4. The roman shade as defined in claim 1, wherein the second device
has a through hole for the cord to pass through and tie a knot, a
recess on a side thereof around an end of the through hole to
receive the knot of the cord, and the second device has the side
with the recess contacting the first device.
5. The roman shade as defined in claim 1, wherein the positioning
unit of the cord assembly includes two reels provided on the top
rail and two stoppers beside the reels respectively, the cord
includes a left cord and a right cord passing through spaces
between each pair of the reel and the stopper to form an operating
section respectively, the second device includes a left second
device connected to the left cord and a right second device
connected to the right cord, and the first device includes a left
first device and a right first device to magnetically attract the
left second device and the right second device respectively.
6. The roman shade as defined in claim 5, wherein the cord assembly
further includes a weight with a magnet or a magnet attractive
device connected to the operating sections of the left cord and the
right cord to be attracted by the first device when the valance is
folded.
7. The roman shade as defined in claim 5, wherein the cord assembly
further includes a connector connected to the operating sections of
the left cord and the right cord, a rope with an end fastened to
the connector, and a weight having a magnet or a magnet attractive
device, connected to a distal end of the rope to be attracted by
the first device when the valance is folded.
8. The roman shade as defined in claim 1, wherein the positioning
unit of the cord assembly includes at least a reel and a driving
device that the cord winds around the reel, and the driving device
rotates the reel.
9. The roman shade as defined in claim 8, wherein the driving
device includes a spring and a transmission unit connecting the
spring and the reel that the spring rotates the reel through the
transmission unit.
10. The roman shade as defined in claim 1, wherein the valance of
the shade member is provided with a plurality of couplers, each of
which has a guiding portion and a gap at an end of the guiding
portion that the cord passes through the coupler and is able to
move along the guiding portions and leaves the couplers via the
gaps.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates generally to a window
covering, and more particularly to a roman shade, which is operated
by a cord with safety device.
[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0004] FIG. 1 shows a conventional roman shade 1 having two cords 2
and 3, and a shade member 4. The cords 2 and 3 have ends fastened
to the bottom of the shade member 4, and then have another ends
passing through rings 5 on the shade member 4 to form two operating
sections 2a and 3a hung at top of the shade member 4 that user may
operate the operating sections 2a and 3a to fold or unfold a cloth
4a of the shade member 4. The cords 2, 3 of such roman shade 1 have
their ends fastened and the operating sections 2a and 3a hung
outside that children may be strangulated by the cords 2, 3 when
they play with the roman shade 1. To avoid such accident, some
shades with safety device are provided in the present market. For
example, a safety device is provided between the cords and the
shade member that the cords will be detached from the shade when
the cords are pulled with a great force.
[0005] A common safety device has an elastic buckle and a buckle
base. However, such safety device will fail when the elastic buckle
is fatigue after buckled and unbuckled for too many times. Another
safety device is shown in FIG. 2 which has a magnet 7 at an end of
the cord 6 and a magnet 9 on a top rail 8 of the shade. In a normal
condition, the magnets 7 and 9 are coupled together by a magnetic
force, and they will be separated when the cord 6 is pulled by an
external force F which is greater than the magnetic force between
the magnets 7 and 9.
[0006] The magnet safety device does not have the same drawbacks as
the buckle safety device, however, the magnet 7 at the end of the
cord 6 might wind around the neck or other body parts of the child
pulling the cord or the children nearby. Besides, it is
inconvenient that people have to stand high to reconnect the magnet
7 of the cord 6 to the magnet 9 near the top rail 8. In conclusion,
the conventional safety devices for roman shade have to be improved
to avoid danger and inconvenience.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] The primary objective of the present invention is to provide
a roman shade, which has good safety mechanism and convenient
assembly and installation.
[0008] To achieve the objective of the present invention, a roman
shade includes a shade member and a cord assembly is introduced as
follows. The shade member has a top rail, a bottom rail, and a
valance with opposite ends connected to the top rail and the bottom
rail. The cord assembly has a positioning unit, a first device, a
second device, and at least a cord. The positioning unit is
provided on the shade member adjacent to the top rail. In one
embodiment, the first device is provided on the shade member
adjacent to the bottom rail. The second device is fastened to the
cord to be magnetically attracted by the first device. In another
embodiment, the second device is provided on the shade member
adjacent to the bottom rail. The first device is fastened to the
cord to attract the second device. The cord passes through the
positioning unit for manipulation to fold and unfold the
valance.
[0009] In an embodiment, the second device is surrounded by a
flexible device to avoid the shade being damaged by the second
device or the first device attached to the cord when they are
separated from each other.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0010] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the conventional roman
shade;
[0011] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the conventional safety
device for the roman shade;
[0012] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of
the present invention in the unfolded condition;
[0013] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the preferred embodiment of
the present invention in the folded condition;
[0014] FIG. 5 is a partial sectional view of the preferred
embodiment of the present invention in the folded condition;
[0015] FIG. 6 is a partial enlarged view of FIG. 3;
[0016] FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the ring of the preferred
embodiment of the present invention;
[0017] FIG. 8 is a sketch diagram of the magnet devices;
[0018] FIG. 9 is a; sketch diagram of the weight;
[0019] FIG. 10 is a sketch diagram of another preferred embodiment
of the present invention in the folded condition; and
[0020] FIG. 11 is a partial enlarged view of FIG. 10.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0021] The present invention provides a roman shade 100. FIG. 3
shows that the roman shade 100 of the present invention is
unfolded, and FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 show that the roman shade 100 is
folded. The roman shade 100 of the present embodiment of the
present invention includes a shade member 10 and a cord assembly
20.
[0022] The shade member 10 includes a top rail 11, a bottom rail 12
and a valance 13, which is a cloth with opposite sides connected to
the top rail 11 and the bottom rail 12. The valance 13 is fastened
with several parallel bars 14, whose weight may stretch the valance
13, as shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 6. FIG. 4 shows the positions of
the bars when the valance 13 is folded. The valance 13 is fastened
with several pairs of couplers 15 and a pair of rings 16 to connect
the bars 14. As shown in FIG. 7, the coupler 15 is a C-ring having
a gap 151 and a curved-inward guiding portion 152. The rings 16 are
secured at the bar closest to the bottom rail 12.
[0023] The cord assembly 20 has a positioning unit 21, a left first
device 22, a right first device 23, a left second device 24, a
right second device 25, two flexible members 26, a left cord 27, a
right cord 28, and a connector 29.
[0024] In the present invention, the positioning unit 21 includes a
reel 211 and a stopper 212. The stopper 212 has a ratchet wheel
212a and a paw 212b. The reel 211 is a pulley in the present
invention, and it may simply be a round frame as well.
[0025] The left first device 22 and the right first device 23 are
two round magnets. FIG. 8 shows the left first device 22 having a
through hole 221 and a recess 222 around an end of the through hole
221. The ring 16 passes through the through hole 221 of the left
first device 22 to fasten the left first device 22 on the valance
13 adjacent to the bottom rail 12. In the same way, the right first
device 23 is fastened on the valance 13 by the other ring 16. It
still has some other ways to fasten the first device 22, such as
passing a rope through the through hole 221 of the left first
device 22, and then stitching the rope to the valance 13.
[0026] The left second device 24 and the right second device 25 are
two round irons. As shown in FIG. 8, the left second device 24 has
a through hole 241 and a recess 242 around an end of the through
hole 241. The left second device 24 and the right second device 25
can be connected with a flexible device 26, which is a rubber ring
fitted to the second devices 24 and 25.
[0027] As shown in FIG. 3, FIG. 5, and FIG. 8, the left cord 27 has
an end passing through the through hole 241 of the left second
device 27 and tied a knot 271, and the other end thereof passing
through the couplers 15 on left side of the valance 13 and around
the ratchet wheel 212a, and then passing through a space between
the ratchet wheel 212a and the paw 212b to form a hung operating
section 272. The right cord 28 has an end passing through the
through hole of the right second device 25 and tied a knot, and the
other end passing through the couplers 15 on right side of the
valance 13 and around the reel 211, and then passing through the
space between the ratchet wheel 212a and the paw 212b to form a
hung operating section 281. As shown in FIG. 3, the attraction of
the first devices and the second devices connect the left and right
cords 27 and 28 to the valance 13, and the knots of the cords are
received in the recesses of the second devices, and the second
devices have the sides with the recesses contacting the first
devices.
[0028] In the present invention, the connector 29 is connected to
the distal ends of the left and right cords 27 and 28. A rope 30
has an end connected to the connector 29 and a weight 32 is
connected to the other end of the rope 30. User may operate the
weight 32 to control the left and right cords 27 and 28 at the same
time for folding and unfolding the valance 13. The rope 30 and the
weight 32 may avoid the left and right cords 27 and 28 tangling
also. As shown in FIG. 9, the weight 32 is embedded with a metal 33
therein that the weight 32 is attracted by the left first device 22
(or the left second device 24) when the valance 13 is folded, as
shown in FIG. 4, to fasten the suspended cords 27 and 28, the rope
30 and the weight 32. The metal 33 within the weight 32 may be a
magnet also. The connector 29 may be omitted and its function can
be replaced by simply connecting the two separate weights 32 to the
left and right cords 27 and 28.
[0029] It has to be mentioned that the first device 22(23) and the
second device 24(25) may either be both magnets, or one of them is
a magnet and another one is a device attracted by magnet, such as
iron.
[0030] While a child is wound around by the cord 27 or 28 and
struggling, the first device 22 or 23 will be separated from the
second device 24 or 25. Also the cord 27 or 28 while moving along
the couplers 15, the guiding portions 152 may leave the couplers 15
via the gaps 151 to provide a further protection to the child.
[0031] Also, the first device 22 or 23 and the second device 24 or
25 are located at a position adjacent to the bottom rail 12 that
the separated cord 27 or 28 will be stopped by the positioning unit
21 on the top rail 11 so the cord 27 or 28 still has an end
connected to the roman shade 100 to avoid the dropped cord winding
around the neck or other body parts of the child pulling the cord
or other children nearby.
[0032] After that, user may easily pull down the second device 24
or 25 from the positioning unit 21 and reconnect the second device
24 or 25 to the first device 22 or 23 so that the roman shade 100
of the present invention may be normally operated again.
[0033] The flexible devices 26 on the second device 24 and 25 may
protect the roman shade 100 from damaging surrounding furniture or
window glasses when the second device is separated from the first
device 22 and/or 23.
[0034] As shown in FIG. 10 and FIG. 11, a roman shade 200 of
another preferred embodiment of the present invention is provided,
which is similar to the roman shade 100 of above, except that:
[0035] The roman shade 200 has a cord assembly 40, which includes a
positioning unit 42 having two reels 421, 422 on a top rail 52 of a
shade member 50 and a driving device 423 between the reels 421,
422. The driving device 423 includes a spring 423a and a
transmission unit 423b. The transmission unit 423b includes several
bevel gears to connect the spring 423a and the reels 421, 422 that
the spring 423a may drive the reels 421, 422 turning.
[0036] The cord assembly 40 has a left cord 44 and a right cord 46
having ends passing through the top rail 52 and fastened to the
reels 421, 422 respectively and the other ends passing through
couplers 54, and then fastened to second devices 48. The second
devices 48 are attracted by first devices 49 on a lower portion of
a valance 56. The operation and function of the roman shade 200 are
the same as the roman shade 100 above.
[0037] The major difference between the roman shades 100 and 200 is
that the roman shade 200 provides the driving device 423 driving
the reels 421 so that there is no free-standing operating sections
of the left cord or right cord.
[0038] The description above is a few preferred embodiments of the
present invention and the equivalence of the present invention is
still in the scope of claim construction of the present
invention.
* * * * *