Curtain Rod

Abstract

A curtain rod which is rigid in the vertical plane has supporting wings and guide means for curtain suspension members extending from both sides.

Description

The invention relates to a curtain rod which can be freely suspended. By being freely suspended it should be understood that the rod can be suspended over substantial spans without supporting means between its ends. The rod may be secured to the walls at its ends by any suitable support means. One such means is disclosed in my copending application 6411 filed Jan. 28, 1970.

Known curtain tracks are set into the ceiling of a room or fastened directly thereto. They in fact reach a high position, but are often unsuitable for modern and old room arrangements and decorations.

Curtain supporting rods comprising a circular cylinder or tube or a wooden pole are also known. Rings which hold the curtains so as to be movable back and forth slide on to the tube or wooden pole. Such curtain supporting rods would, in some cases, be suitable for modern interior decoration, but they have a number of disadvantages which render them unsuitable for modern usage:

1. They are not sufficiently inflexible and can therefore only be used over narrow windows. They are unsuitable for modern windows which are sometimes very wide.

2. The running qualities of the rings are quite inadequate. If these were used, it would be necessary to dispense with all the advantageous features of the modern plastics runners or rollers.

3. A separate curtain rod is needed for each curtain.

4. With these curtain supports it is impossible for the curtains to overlap at their ends.

5. The known curtain rods are unsatisfactory from the aesthetic point of view.

The object of the invention is to provide curtain supporting rods which fulfil the requirements of old and modern interior decoration, are inflexible particularly in a horizontal and vertical direction, but which make it possible, nevertheless, to benefit from the advantages of modern curtain tracks and suspension members.

This problem is solved in accordance with the invention in that the curtain rod is highly inflexible in a vertical plane in an operative position and in that supporting faces having guide means, in the vicinity of their free ends, for curtain suspension members extend therefrom on both sides. In this connection, the dimensions of this curtain support are in cross section considerably larger than the curtain suspension members in use.

Other advantages and features of the invention are shown in the following description of preferred embodiments.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 shows a cross section of a first embodiment of a broken-away curtain supporting rod shown in perspective,

FIG. 2 shows the same cross section through a second embodiment,

FIG. 3 shows the same cross section through a third embodiment,

FIG. 4 shows a cross section through a fourth embodiment having curtain hooks and support means,

FIG. 5 shows a cross section through a fifth embodiment,

FIG. 6 shows an enlarged detail of a sixth embodiment,

FIG. 7 shows a cross section through a seventh embodiment,

FIG. 8 shows a cross section through an eighth embodiment.

A curtain rod 11, as shown in FIG. 1, comprises a hollow tube 12 of quadrangular cross section when seen in its operative position. As can be seen, the tube 12 is placed diagonally so that the corner 13 is at the top, the corner 14 at the bottom, and the corners 16 and 17 are located on the same level on the left and right. In the tube 12 there is provided a hollow space 18 which can be filled with a reinforcement made of wood, foam material or the like. A first supporting wing 19 which is integral with the tube 12 and a vertical guide rib 21 extends to the left from the corner 16.

From the corner 17 extends a second supporting wing 22 which has a narrow section 23 in the vicinity of its free end.

Another vertical guide rib 24 is supported on this wing 22, extends above and below the latter and has an undercut groove 26 by which the guide rib 24 can be supported. The supported guide rib has the advantage that it makes smooth guiding possible. Even when the curtain rod 11 is cut at a particular point, the guide rib 24 also absorbs the impact caused by cutting. A supported guide rib 24 also makes it possible for the tube 12 and the supporting wings 19 to be made of metal which does not have such good running properties as a guide rib 24 made of plastics material. Finally, the tube 12 and the supporting wings 19 and 22 can for example be manufactured in an aluminum color and the guide rib in a golden color, thereby producing a particularly decorative effect. Usually the guide rib 21 is only integral with the supporting wing 19 if the entire curtain rod 11 is made of plastics material.

In the embodiment according to FIG. 2 a core 27 can be made of a wooden rod or a metal tube. This core 27 is enclosed by a moulded plastics material and has a shape similar to the embodiment shown in FIG. 1. In addition there are provided an upward projecting rib 28 and a downward projecting rib 29. Moreover, there is considerable stiffness in flexure in the vertical plane whereas, as in the first embodiment, the supporting wings 19 and 22 offer considerable resistance to flexure in a horizontal plane and also have points of attachment for guiding means, as shown for example by the guide ribs 21 and 24.

As in the first embodiment, it is also possible in this case (and in the other embodiments yet to be described) to support two curtains on a single curtain rod, thereby giving such a curtain track a particularly pleasing appearance.

In the embodiment according to FIG. 3 the core 27 has a trapezoidal shape, and can again consist of wood or metal. It is enclosed by an injection-moulded trapezoidal rod 12. The side 31 of minimum surface area points upwards, whereas the sides, 32 and 33 are relatively large. A lower side 34 can be omitted and the core 27 inserted from below so that it is visible.

Finally, the supporting wing 19, the sides 32, 31 and 33 and the supporting wing 22 can be produced as one integral piece and the side 34 as a base plate to be attached additionally. In the embodiment according to FIG. 4 the curtain rod is cross shaped. The horizontal ribs represent the supporting wings 19 and 22. A downward projecting rib 36 bears a guide means in the form of a guide rib 37 while a holding rib 39 is moulded to an upward projecting rib 38, said holding rib fitting together with the upper part of the rib 38 into a T-shaped recess 41 of an iron section 42 which is driven into a wall and secures the curtain rod 11 by means of a screw 43.

The supporting wing 22 extending to the right bears an inner track 44, the upper wall 46 of which is an extension of the wing 22 and the vertical walls 47 and 48 support at their free lower ends horizontal ribs 49 and 51 between which a runner groove 52 is left open.

It can be seen basically from this embodiment that the new curtain rod can be used together with front runners 53, outer rollers 54 and with the inner track 44 having inner rollers or runners. The inner track 44 can also be used as a double outer track because outer rollers 54 can be guided, for example, along the wall 47 and rib 49.

In the embodiment according to FIG. 5 the rod consists of two semidome sections 56 and 57, the sides 58, 59 and 61, 62 of which are integral with the supporting wings. The two semidome sections 56 and 57 are spot welded at 63 and 64 and have a strip of metal 66 extending transversely through the hollow space 18 and as far as between the sides 58, 61 and 59, 62. The sides 58 to 62 have flanges 67, 68, 69 and 71 projecting upwards or downwards. The whole construction can be covered in a plastics coating 72.

In the embodiment according to FIG. 6 the semidome sections or their sides do not need to be coated with a plastics material. They can for example, be made of a lightweight metal which is advantageous from the aesthetic point of view. In this case it is possible to use the guide rib 24 both for connecting the two semidome sections together and, at the same time, acting as a guide means for curtain hooks.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 7 the rod 12 is made of a plastics material while the core 27 takes the form of a metal tube or a wooden insert. The ribs 28 and 29 are indicated by broken lines to show that they can be omitted.

In the embodiment according to FIG. 8 the supporting wings 19 and 22 can be seen again, with their guide ribs 21 and 24. Two cores 27 in the form of wooden rods with a box-shaped cross section are inserted in a vertical direction. These cores 27 are covered by a plastics coating 72. Their arrangement with regard to the neutral fibers which can be seen in the longitudinal axis of the curtain rod depending on stress, produces a surprisingly high resistance to flexure in a vertical direction. Bending in a horizontal direction is mainly absorbed by the supporting wings 19 and 22. The cores 27 can also be integral in the vertical direction.

As can be seen in the drawings, care has been taken to maintain a symmetrical form for purely mechanical and static reasons as well as for aesthetic and manufacturing purposes.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A curtain rod of a design intended to be suspended over substantial spans without supporting means between its ends by providing high resistance to flexure in the vertical plane comprising

a quadrangular cross section arranged in a generally diamondlike orientation in which diagonally opposed corners are at the same horizontal level,

supporting wings for supporting curtain suspension members projecting horizontally from each of said diagonally opposed corners and

guide means in the vicinity of the free ends of said supporting wings for guiding the curtain suspension members.

2. A curtain rod as claimed in claim 1 wherein the rod is rectangular in cross section.

3. A curtain rod as claimed in claim 2 wherein the rod is square in cross section.

4. A curtain rod as claimed in claim 1 wherein hollow spaces in said rod are filled with cores made of wood.

5. A curtain rod as claimed in claim 1 wherein in the operative position at least one vertical rib extends from a vertical corner.

6. A curtain rod as claimed in claim 1 having a wooden core around which a coating, said supporting wings and said guide means are injection molded.