CN101300399A - Selective tilting arrangement for a blind system for coverings for architectural openings - Google Patents

Abstract

A tilter system for a window blind permits the slats of the blind to be tilted open or closed in a number of different configurations depending on the routing of tilt cables or actuator cords.

Description

Selective flip configuration of shutter systems for building opening coverings

technical field

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application S/N 60/714139, filed September 2, 2005, which is incorporated herein by reference.

The present invention relates to coverings for building openings, and more particularly the present invention relates to horizontal shutters, such as Venetian shutters, designed to selectively tilt open or tilt sections of closed shutters, or to tilt at standard pitches Open, while flipping closed room-side up or room-side down with the look of traditional blinds.

Typically, Venetian blinds have top nose rails or other frame members, both of which support the blind and conceal the mechanisms used to raise and lower or open and close the blind. Raising and lowering is accomplished by hoisting ropes attached to the bottom rails (or bottom slats). The slats supported from the nose rails can be flipped to close the shutter by the side of the room down (the edge of the slat close to the room faces down, which means the other edge of the slat near the window or wall will face up), or by Room side up to close the shutters.

Flip closed blinds to block light or gain privacy or both. In order to obtain the best performance from the shutter, it is desirable to have one part of the shutter open and another part of the shutter closed. For example, it may be desirable to flip the lower portion of a closed shutter in an office environment to block sunlight from hitting a computer screen, or to provide privacy so that someone standing outside the window cannot stare through the window and see what is happening in the room. matter. At the same time, however, it is desirable to have the upper portion of the shutter flip open so that some natural light and/or ventilation enters the room. Another example of an application for such a "split" louver configuration would be in a home where the floor of the house is at a higher level than the ground outside. People standing inside the house are free to look out, but unless the shutter's open section allows it to reach the highest position, outsiders cannot effectively see inside.

In addition to privacy concerns and eliminating staring, the optical control feature of split louver constructions (also known as selectively flipped constructions) is also beneficial in reducing UV degradation from sunlight on interior furniture, carpets, hardwood floors, etc. While maintaining indirect lighting from the outside and a clear view of the outside at all times. This is particularly practical and applicable in buildings where the roof hangs over the windows or in areas where the windows are recessed into the walls to form overhangs.

In some cases, it is desirable to flip open the shutter as much as possible to allow more light to pass through the shutter or to allow a greater unobstructed view. In this case, standard width slats can be used, wherein when flipped open, adjacent pairs of slats are moved together and stacked against each other, resulting in a "double pitch" configuration. In this double-pitch configuration, the open area between adjacent pairs of slats is essentially twice that achieved with slats equally spaced in the normal configuration, hence the "double-pitched "structure.

In other cases it may be desirable to flip close one slat in one direction (ie room side up) while the slat adjacent to that slat closes in the other direction (room side down). This results in the aesthetic "pleated look" (also sometimes referred to as the silk look) of the shutter when the shutter is closed.

Contents of the invention

In one embodiment, the shutter system allows a user to flip open or flip close the entire blind, and to selectively flip open a portion of the blind and flip close another portion of the blind.

In another embodiment, the shutter system allows the user to flip the closing slats like conventional blinds (room side up or room side down), but flip open double the standard pitch.

In another embodiment, the shutter system enables the user to flip the open slats like traditional blinds, but flip the closed slats in alternate directions (one slat room side up and the next room side down) so that Creates a "folded" look.

Various embodiments of the present invention provide a barrel section with an inversion cable and/or an actuator cable connected to multiple barrel sections. Since both the tilt cable and the actuator cable are used to actuate the slats of the shutter, the terms "tilt cable" and "actuator cable" are sometimes used interchangeably in this specification.

One type of tumbler mechanism uses two cylinders that are generally parallel but not coaxial with each other. The two cylinders are driven independently by separate tumble levers extending through the axis of rotation of their respective cylinders.

Various fixation and routing configurations of the inversion cables (or actuator cables) and cylinders result in two types of inversion mechanisms, enabling any desired capability.

Description of drawings

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of a shutter system made in accordance with the present invention showing a partially exploded perspective view of the mechanism within the nose rail above the shutter;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of one of the inversion stations of Figure 1 with the housing cover removed for clarity;

Figure 3 is an exploded perspective view of the turning station of Figure 2;

Figure 3B is a perspective view of a vertical section taken along the axis of rotation of the inversion station of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of one of the cylinders of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the opposite end of the cylinder of Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a front view of the cylinder of Figure 5;

Figure 7 is a perspective view of another cylinder of Figure 3;

Figure 8 is an opposite end perspective view of the cylinder of Figure 7;

Figure 9 is a perspective view of the housing of the inversion station of Figure 3;

Figure 10 is a smaller angle, opposite end, perspective view of the housing of Figure 9;

Figure 11 is a perspective view of the drum drive of the inversion station of Figure 3;

Figure 12 is an opposite end, perspective view of the cylinder driver of Figure 11;

Figures 13-15 are a series of perspective views showing the assembly process of the two cylinders, cylinder drive and spring of Figure 3;

Figure 16 is a cross-sectional view through the cylinder of Figure 5;

Figures 17-19 are a continuation of the series of perspective views showing the assembly process of the two cylinders, cylinder driver and spring of Figure 3;

Figure 20 is a schematic, perspective view, partly in section, of the shutter of Figure 1, showing the position of the cylinder and arrangement of the overturning cables for a double pitch configuration, and a corresponding end view of the cylinder, to more clearly show the cylinder's relative rotational position;

Figure 21 is a view similar to Figure 20 but showing the position of the slats and cylinder of the louver when the louver is closed down on the room side;

Figure 22 is similar to Figure 20 but shows the position of the slats of the louver and the cylinder when the louver is closed on the side of the room;

Figure 23 is a schematic perspective view, partly in section, of the shutter of Figure 1 showing the position of the cylinder and arrangement of the inversion cables for the inversion configuration so that one part of the louver is open and the other part is closed, and a corresponding end view of the cylinder, In order to more clearly show the relative rotational position of the cylinder;

Figure 24 is similar to Figure 23 but shows the position of the shutter slats and cylinder when the shutter is closed on the room side;

Figure 25 is similar to Figure 23 but shows the position of the slats and cylinder of the louver when the lower part of the louver is closed down on the room side while the upper part of the louver remains flipped open;

Figure 26 is a schematic perspective view, partly in section, of the shutter of Figure 1, showing the position of the cylinder and arrangement of the flipping cables for the folded appearance and double-pitch construction, and a corresponding end view of the cylinder to more clearly show the circle The relative rotational position of the barrel;

Figure 27 is a view similar to Figure 26 but showing the position of the slats and cylinder of the louver when the louver is folded closed in one direction;

Figure 28 is a view similar to Figure 27 but showing the position of the slats and cylinder of the louver when the louver is folded closed in the opposite direction;

Figure 29 is a perspective view of another embodiment of a louver system made in accordance with the present invention showing a partially exploded perspective view of the mechanism within the nose rail above the louver;

Figure 30 is a perspective view of the indexing gear mechanism of the shutter of Figure 29;

Figure 31 is an exploded perspective view of the indexing gear mechanism of Figure 30;

Figure 32 is a partially exploded perspective view of the indexing gear mechanism of Figure 30;

Figure 33 is a view taken along line 33-33 of Figure 32;

Figure 34 is a perspective view of a housing cover for the indexing gear mechanism of Figure 31;

Figure 35 is a perspective view of one of the driven gears of the indexing gear mechanism of Figure 31;

Figure 36 is the perspective view of the indexing gear of the indexing gear mechanism of Figure 31;

Figure 37 is a perspective view of one of the inversion stations for the blind of Figure 29;

Figure 38 is an exploded perspective view of the inversion station of Figure 37;

Figure 39 is a perspective view of one of the cylinders of the inversion station of Figure 37;

Figure 40 is a perspective view of the housing of the inversion station of Figure 37;

Figure 41 is a schematic perspective view, partly in section, of the shutter of Figure 29, showing the position of the cylinder and arrangement of the overturning cables for a double pitch configuration, and a corresponding view of the indexing gear mechanism, to more clearly show the driven gear relative rotational position of

Figure 42 is a view similar to Figure 41 but showing the position of the slats, cylinder and indexing gear mechanism of the louver when the louver is closed down on the room side;

Figure 43 is similar to Figure 42 but shows the position of the slats, cylinder and indexing gear mechanism of the louver when the louver is closed room side up;

Figure 44 is a schematic perspective view, partly in section, of the shutter of Figure 29 showing the position of the cylinder and arrangement of the inversion cables for the inversion configuration so that one part of the louver is open and the other part is closed, and the corresponding indexing gear mechanism View, in order to more clearly show the relative rotational position of the driven gear;

Figure 45 is similar to Figure 44 but shows the position of the slats, cylinder and indexing gear mechanism of the louver with the lower part of the louver closed down on the room side while the upper part of the louver remains flipped open;

Figure 46 is similar to Figure 44 but shows the position of the slats, cylinder and indexing gear mechanism of the louver when the lower part of the louver is closed room side up while the lower part of the louver remains flipped open;

Figure 47 is a schematic perspective view, partly in section, of the shutter of Figure 29, showing the position of the cylinders and arrangement of the overturning cables for the folded appearance and double pitch construction, and a corresponding view of the indexing gear mechanism for greater clarity The relative rotational position of the driven gear;

Figure 48 is similar to Figure 47 but shows the position of the slats, cylinder and indexing gear mechanism of the louver when the louver is folded closed in one direction; and

Figure 49 is a view similar to Figure 47 but showing the position of the slats, cylinder and indexing gear mechanism of the louver when the louver is folded closed in the opposite direction.

Detailed ways

Single flip lever, coaxial cylinder structure

The shutter 10 of FIG. 1 includes a nose rail 12 and a plurality of slats 14 suspended from the nose rail 12 by flip cables 16 and their associated transverse cables 16t (see FIG. 20 ) which together comprise stepped straps. A lift cable 20 is fastened at the bottom of the bottom slat (or bottom rail) 18, which is generally heavier than the other slats 14, and the lift cable 20 passes through a cutout in the slat 14, through the nose rail 12, as is known in the art. And exit through the rope locking mechanism 22 . The turning rope 24 is operative to turn the turning lever 28 about its longitudinal axis in order to actuate the rope turning device 26 of the turning station 30 . In this embodiment, there are two sets of turning cables 16, more specifically identified below:

-16 is the overall mark of the flip cable

- The suffix "a" is used for the first set of flipping cables, and "b" is used for the second set of flipping cables

- The additional suffix "f" or "r" is used to indicate the front side (room side) or rear side (wall side or window side).

Note that in some cases, there is no second set of flipping cables. Actuator cables are also used in some cases (eg Figure 23) and are designated 16x. The actuator cables 16x extend parallel to the inversion cables 16 and are attached to one of the inversion cables 16 via a knot 32 (see FIG. Selectively Reversible Configuration of Coverings for Building Openings" is described in detail in US Patent No. 6,845,802, which is incorporated herein by reference. Although the flip bar 28 in this embodiment is described in detail in Canadian Patent No. 2206932 of "Anderson" on December 4, 1997 (1997/12/04) by the rope flipper 26 (this patent is incorporated herein by reference )), it should be understood that other types of actuators could be used, such as rod or motorized flippers.

Referring briefly to FIGS. 2 and 3 , the inversion station 30 includes a first cylinder 34 , a second cylinder 36 , a cylinder drive 38 , a lash spring 40 , a housing 42 and a housing cover 44 .

Referring to FIGS. 4 , 5 , 6 and 16 , the first cylinder 34 comprises two concentric cylinders 46 , 48 interconnected by a centrally positioned web 50 . The outer barrel 46 defines two axially extending slotted openings 52 approximately one hundred and twenty degrees (120) apart and an axial projection approximately sixty degrees (60) from one of the two slotted openings 52 . The limit stop 54.

Passing roughly halfway through its axial dimension, the inner cylinder 48 suddenly expands over a substantial portion of its circumference to a larger diameter inner cylinder 58 . This results in a crescent-shaped flange 56 (see FIG. 6 ) extending approximately two hundred and twenty degrees ( 220 ) around the perimeter of the inner barrel 48 and terminating in radially extending shoulders 60 , 62 . As described further down below, flange 56 serves to locate and accommodate cylinder driver 38 within inversion station 30 , and shoulders 60 , 62 allow cylinder driver 38 to drive each cylinder 34 , 36 in rotation. The web 50 defines through openings 64 (see FIG. 6 ) for connecting the gap spring 40 to the cylinders 34, 36, as described in more detail below.

Referring to FIGS. 7 and 8 , the second cylinder 36 is identical to the first cylinder 34 except that the second cylinder 36 includes an axially extending circumferential ring 66 having an inner diameter slightly larger than the outer diameter of the outer cylinder 46 . This ring 66 is found only on the end of the cylinder 36 opposite to the end defining the slotted opening 52 and the limit stop 54, and the end of the positioning ring 66 is referred to as the inner end of the second cylinder 36 68, while the other end is the outer end 70. Similarly, the first cylinder 34 has an inner end 72 and an outer end 74 . When the cylinders 34, 36 are assembled together, the ring 66 of the second cylinder 36 covers the inner end 72 of the first cylinder 34 so as to prevent the tumbler cable 16 from falling between the first and second cylinders 34, 36 , as becomes clear below.

Referring to FIGS. 11 and 12 , the cylindrical drum driver 38 defines a non-cylindrical profile, interior hollow shaft 76 designed to engage the flip lever 28 such that rotation of the flip rod 28 causes the drum driver 38 to rotate. The cylinder driver 38 also includes an axially extending, rectangular key 78 positioned halfway between the ends of the cylinder driver 38 . When assembled together, the length of the cylinder driver 38 is slightly longer than the length of the two cylinders 34, 36, and these ends are available for rotational support of the cylinder assembly on saddles 96, 98 of the housing 42, as described more below. As described in detail. The length of the key 78 is approximately equal to the distance from the flange 56 of the first cylinder 34 to the flange 56 of the second cylinder 36 when the two cylinders 34 , 36 are assembled together. The outer diameter of the cylinder driver 38 is slightly smaller than the diameter of the inner cylinder 48 of the first and second cylinders 34 , 36 . When the cylinder driver 38 is inserted into the two cylinders 34, 36, as described in more detail below, the cylinder driver 38 is located inside and coaxially aligned with the two cylinders 34 and 36. Key 78 selectively engages shoulders 60, 62 of cylinders 34, 36 depending on the direction of rotation of flip lever 28, as described in more detail below.

As shown in FIG. 3 , gap spring 40 includes two axially extending ends 80, 82 that extend through openings 64 in web 50 of cylinders 34, 36 as described in more detail below, placing the first The first and second cylinders 34 , 36 are connected together and preloaded against the key 78 of the cylinder driver 38 . As also shown in FIG. 3B , the coils of the gap spring 40 are positioned between the outer cylinder 46 , the larger diameter portion 58 of the inner cylinder 48 and the web 50 of the cylinders 34 , 36 .

13-15 and 17-19 illustrate the process of assembling the two cylinders 34, 36, the cylinder driver 38 and the spring 40. FIG. Figure 13 shows that the first step is to insert the end 82 of the spring into the opening 64 in the second cylinder 36 (see Figure 6). The next step (FIG. 14) is to insert the cylinder driver 38 into the inner cylinder 48 of the second cylinder 36, with one end of the key 78 pushed in (see FIG. 15) until it abuts against the protrusion of the second cylinder 36. until edge 56. Next, the first cylinder 34 is assembled by inserting the second end 80 of the spring 40 into the opening 64 in the first cylinder 34, and then bringing the two cylinders 34, 36 together until they The respective inner ends 72, 68 of the first cylinder 34 meet and the ring 66 on the second cylinder 36 covers the inner end 72 of the first cylinder 34 (see FIG. 17 ).

The next step is to bend the ends 80 , 82 of the springs 40 protruding through the respective openings 64 of the cylinders 34 , 36 to secure the ends 80 , 82 to their respective cylinders 34 , 36 . A tool 84 (as shown in Figure 17) can be used for this purpose, or the end can simply be bent using needle nose tweezers, a flat head screwdriver, or other known tools. The cylinders 34, 36 are now assembled with the lash spring 40 and cylinder driver 38 within the assembly. The spring 40 holds the cylinders 34, 36 together (because the ends 80, 82 of the spring 40 are bent sideways so that they will not slide off the cylinders 34, 36).

The next step (see FIG. 18 ) is to preload the cylinders 34 , 36 against the key 78 of the cylinder driver 38 . This is done by grasping each cylinder 34 , 36 and separating them to an extent sufficient to move one of the cylinders 34 , 36 axially away from the key 78 of the cylinder driver 38 . Cylinder 34 is then turned 360 degrees counterclockwise relative to cylinder 36 and the cylinders are brought together again and then let go. The two cylinders 34, 36 immediately rotate in opposite directions, urged by the biasing force of the gap spring 40, until the first shoulder 60 of the first cylinder 34 and the second shoulder 62 of the second cylinder 36 abut the circles. until the key 78 of the cartridge driver 38 is impacted. The two cylinders 34 , 36 are now preloaded against the key 78 of the cylinder drive 38 .

As shown in Figure 19, either cylinder 34, 36 is rotatable about its common axis of rotation (which also corresponds to the axis of rotation of the cylinder drive 38). If the first cylinder 34 is turned clockwise (viewed from the vantage point of FIG. 19 ), while holding the second cylinder 36 stationary, the second shoulder 62 of the first cylinder 34 impacts against the key 78 of the cylinder driver 38 , causing cylinder driver 38 to rotate clockwise as well. The key 78 then impacts against the second shoulder 62 of the second cylinder 36, again causing the second cylinder 36 to rotate clockwise, and the entire assembly as a unit, and until something prevents this rotation (as below As described, precisely what occurs when the limit stops 54 on the cylinders 34 , 36 abut against one of the limit stops on the housing 42 ).

On the other hand, if the first cylinder 34 is turned counterclockwise, its second shoulder 62 moves away from the key 78 so that the first cylinder 34 can rotate relative to the second cylinder 36 which thus remains fixed. However, in order to rotate the first cylinder 34, the preload force of the spring 40 must be overcome.

The same is true for the second cylinder 36, assuming the favorable position is the opposite end of FIG. 19 . That is, viewed from the rear side of FIG. 19, only when the entire assembly rotates with it, the second cylinder 36 can rotate clockwise, and it can rotate counterclockwise, and assuming that the user overcomes the preloading force of the spring 40, the first cylinder The barrel 34 remains stationary. In the rest of this description we will refer to the positions of the cylinders 34, 36 where for the neutral position of the inversion station 30 no additional force is applied to overcome the preload force of the spring 40. That is, where the first cylinder 34 has its second shoulder 62 abutting the key 78 and the second cylinder 36 has its second shoulder 62 abutting the key 78 .

Referring now to FIGS. 3 , 9 and 10 , the housing 42 includes two side walls 86 , 88 , two end walls 90 , 92 and a bottom wall 94 . End walls 90 , 92 define "U" shaped saddles 96 , 98 , respectively, which provide rotational support for the cylinder assembly by supporting the ends of cylinder driver 38 . The arms 100, 102 extend at an angle of approximately 45° from the plane defined by the end walls 90, 92, and they project above the centerline of the flip rod 28 as the rod 28 passes the cylinder drive 38, thus preventing the cylinder assembly from lifting. out of the housing 42 . The ends of the inner barrel 48 of the cylinders 34, 36 have a larger diameter than the saddles 96, 98, and the distance between the ends of the inner barrel 48 is slightly smaller than the distance between the saddles 96, 98 so that if the barrel 34, 36 move in the axial direction, the inner barrel 48 will abut against one of the saddles 96, 98, thus preventing the barrels 34, 36 from moving too much in the axial direction.

On either side of each saddle 96, 98, there are two brackets 110, 112 (as best shown in Fig. The lower bracket 112 is less concave (at a higher height). These brackets 110, 112 act as limit stops by cooperating with limit stops on their respective cylinders 34, 36, so as to limit the angle through which the cylinders 34, 36 are free to rotate in any direction. The features of this limit stop are described in more detail below.

The bottom wall 94 of the housing 42 defines two elongated slotted openings 104 , 106 and a shorter rectangular opening 108 . Elongated slotted openings 104 , 106 are used for front and rear flip cables to pass through corresponding openings (not shown) in housing 42 and nose rail 12 . The shorter rectangular opening 108 is used for the hoisting rope 20 .

Referring to Figures 3 and 3B, the housing cover 44 snaps onto the housing 42 to add dimensional integrity to the housing 42 and to prevent the flipping cable 16 from being in a slack state (such as at some point where someone actually lifts the shutter 10). The slats 14) wrap around the cylinders 34, 36 or drop from them.

1 and 3, once the cylinder assembly is assembled and preloaded as shown in FIGS. Rotation bearing. The flip rod 28 is inserted through the hollow shaft 76 of the cylinder driver 38 and one end of the flip rod 28 is connected to the cord driven flipper mechanism 26 as shown in FIG. 1 . Typically, two or more tipping stations 30 are mounted on the tipping bar 28 and the entire tipping drive assembly is mounted within the nose rail 12 of the shutter 10 . At some point before or after the tilt drive assembly is mounted on the nose rail 12, in a desired arrangement, the tilt cables 16 can be connected to the cylinders 34, 36 to achieve the desired configuration, as described in more detail below. like that. In order to connect the inverting cable 16 to the cylinders 34, 36, an enlarging device, such as a knot or a small ball, is attached to the end of the inverting cable to be fixed, this enlarging device being inserted into the desired cylinder 34, 36, 36 behind the desired slotted opening 52 in the outer barrel 46 through which the rest of the inversion cable 16 extends. The augmentation device prevents the inversion cable 16 from being pulled away from the respective cylinder 34, 36, and thereby quickly and efficiently connects the inversion cable 16 to the respective cylinder 34, 36.

Double Pitch Construction

Figures 20-22 illustrate the arrangement of the rollover cables for a typical double pitch shutter construction. In the three figures, and in all subsequent similar figures, the arrangement of the inverting cable 16 and the position of the cylinders 34, 36 (particularly the one depicting the knotting of the ends of the inverting cable 16 to the cylinders 34, 36 Relative position) is described with respect to the corresponding position of the slats 14 of the shutter 10 . For greater clarity, end views of the respective cylinders 34, 36 are included as part of these views to help illustrate the knotting points of each flipping cable 16 (knotted at the slotted openings 52 of the cylinders 34, 36). knot), or the position of the limit stop 54.

As described earlier, the turning cable is generally designated 16, but is further qualified by the following suffixes:

- "a" for the first set of turning cables which support the upper (top) slats 14t within each set of top and bottom slats 14t, 14b

- "b" for the second set of overturning cables which support the lower (or bottom) slats 14b within each pair 14t, 14b

- "f" is for the front flip cables, they are on the room side of the shutter

- The "r" is for the rear flip cables, they are on the wall side of the shutter (also known as the window side)

- "x" for the actuator cable normally fixed on one of the flipping cables 16

Referring briefly to FIG. 1, note that the inverter mechanism 26 is a worm gear cable drive mechanism as disclosed in US Patent 6,561,252, which is hereby incorporated by reference. The rope pulley is directly connected to the worm gear, which drives the gear to which the flip lever 28 is connected. As is known in the art, in a worm gear mechanism, the worm wheel can drive the gear in both clockwise and counterclockwise directions. However, the gear cannot drive the worm gear in reverse; the mechanism locks when the gear starts to drive the worm gear in reverse. While a worm gear is a very convenient and convenient way of ensuring that the flipper mechanism 20 cannot be driven back, in alternative embodiments other means (e.g. ratchets, one-way brakes or clutches, all with appropriate release mechanisms) may be used , in order to ensure this same situation.

The ability to drive the inverting lever 28 from the input in either direction (clockwise or counterclockwise) but not reversely drive the inverting lever 28 from the output is a useful feature of operating the inverting station 30, as described in more detail below.

Referring to FIG. 20, the cylinders 34, 36 are in their neutral position (again, this neutral position means that there is no external force acting on the cylinders 34, 36 to overcome the preload force of the spring 40, so that the first cylinder 34 makes it position when the second shoulder 62 abuts the key 78 and the second cylinder 36 has its second shoulder 62 abutting the key 78). The slats 14 are opened in a double pitch configuration, wherein each pair of adjacent slats 14t, 14b are stacked against each other, and between this pair of adjacent slats 14t, 14b and the next pair of adjacent slats 14t, 14b Room has a lot of space. This large space is approximately twice the standard distance or double pitch (dp) between the slats of a conventional shutter with equally spaced slats.

The top slats 14t of each pair of top and bottom slats 14t, 14b are supported by transverse cables 16t extending between the first set of front and rear flip cables 16af, 16ar. (For simplicity, when we mean the entire ladder belt including the front and rear flip cables and the transverse ropes connecting these front and rear flip cables, we will refer to the flip cables, and this use will be made in its It is obvious from the article used). The first rear turning cable 16ar is arranged on the first cylinder 34 of the turning station 30, and is fixed on one of the slotted openings 52ar in the first cylinder 34 (noting that the general designation of the slotted opening is 52, as shown in Figure 5, but this designation is adjusted by the suffix ar, which corresponds to the suffix of the reversing cable 16ar fixed on the particular slotted opening. This designation will be used throughout this specification). The first front flipping cable 16af is arranged on the second cylinder 36 and is fixed on the slotted opening 52af of the second cylinder 36 . The ring 66 of the second cylinder 36 prevents the overturning cable from falling between the two cylinders 34 , 36 .

Similarly, the bottom slat 14b of each pair of slats 14t, 14b is supported by a transverse cable 16t extending between a second set of front and rear flip cables 16bf, 16br. The second set of rear flip cables 16br is arranged on the second cylinder 36 and is secured in the slotted opening 52br in the second cylinder 36 . Finally, the front inverting cables 16bf of the second set of inverting cables are arranged on the first cylinder 34 and fixed on the slotted opening 52bf of the first cylinder 34 .

All turning cables 16 are knotted to the cylinders 34, 36 so that when the cylinders are in their "middle" position as shown in Figure 20, the slats 14 are arranged in a double pitch configuration with pairs of adjacent top and bottom slats 14t, 14b superimposed on each other, forming a large double pitch gap "dp" between the set of pairs of slats 14t, 14b.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 21 , one of the flip cables 24 is pulled to cause the flip lever 28 to rotate in a clockwise direction (viewed from the vantage point of FIGS. 1 and 21 ). Clockwise rotation of the flip lever 28 causes a clockwise rotation of the cylinder drive 38 (and key 78 ) within the flip station 30 . As the key 78 is rotated, it pushes against the first shoulder 60 of the first cylinder 34 (see FIG. 5 ), thereby causing the first cylinder 34 to also rotate clockwise. Since the gap spring 40 preloads the second cylinder 36 against the key 78 , the second cylinder 36 also wants to follow the key 78 . However, after the second cylinder 36 begins to rotate clockwise, its limit stop 54 strikes the upper bracket limit stop 110 (see FIG. 3 ) on the end of the housing 42, stopping any further clockwise rotation of the second cylinder 36. The hour hand turns regardless of the compression of the gap spring 40 . Naturally, since the second cylinder 36 has stopped rotating, the user must now apply sufficient force to overcome the biasing force of the gap spring in order to continue to rotate the flip lever 28 , cylinder driver 38 and first cylinder 34 . As the user continues to turn the flip lever 28 in a clockwise direction, the first cylinder 34 continues to rotate until its limit stop 54 impacts the lower bracket limit stop 112 on the respective end wall 90 of the housing 42 . At this point, the slats are in the closed position with the room side down, as shown in FIG. 21 . It can be further improved by comparing the starting position (in the middle position) of the limit stop 54 on the first cylinder 34 shown in FIG. 20 with the end position of the limit stop 54 on the first cylinder 34 shown in FIG. The change in position of the cylinders 34, 36 is clearly seen, supporting the first cylinder 34 to rotate counterclockwise through almost a full 180 degree travel.

The slotted openings 52ar and 52br on the first cylinder 34 connected to the first rear inversion cable 16ar and the second front inversion cable 16bf are also rotated the same distance through approximately 180 degree travel. Thus, the rear flipping cable 16ar of the top slat 14t is pulled upward a distance approximately equal to Π*r (where r is the radius of the cylinder 34), and the front flipping cable 16bf of the bottom slat 14b extends the same distance. The other two turning cables 16af, 16br connected to the second cylinder 36 remain virtually stationary. Thus, the front (room-side) edges of the top slats 14t do not move, while the rear (wall-side) edges of the top slats 14t swing up to the room-side flip-down closed orientation (see FIG. 21 ). Similarly, the rear (wall side) edges of the bottom slats 14b move up only a very short distance, while the front (room side) edges of these bottom slats 14b swing down to complete the room of the shutter shown in FIG. Side down flip closed orientation.

In general, in FIG. 21 , the second cylinder 36 is not rotating (or is turning for a very short distance of only a few degrees of travel before a limiting stop prevents it from turning further), and the first cylinder 34 is turning clockwise ( 21 left) to move the double pitch fully open shutter of FIG. 20 to the room side down closed shutter of FIG. 21. The very short end axis of the second cylinder 36 is such that the edges of adjacent pairs of slats 14 overlap each other so that no gap of light is visible when the shutter is closed.

Note that the limit stops 110, 112 (see FIG. 3) are represented as an upper limit stop 110 and a lower limit stop 112, as they are depicted in the accompanying drawings, and this designation makes it easy to distinguish between the two stops 110, 112. 112. However, the limiting stops 110 , 112 may both be located at the same height relative to each other, so they may more accurately be referred to as the first stop 110 and the second stop 112 .

The gap spring 40 urges the cylinders 34, 36 back to the neutral position, the first cylinder 34 is urged to rotate counterclockwise, and the second cylinder 36 is urged to rotate clockwise. However, there is now a mechanism to prevent both rotations, as described below. Due to the interaction of its limit stop 54 with the limit stop 110 of the housing 42, the second cylinder 36 cannot rotate clockwise. Due to the stop by the rope turner 26, the first cylinder 34 cannot rotate counterclockwise. Since the key 78 of the cylinder driver 38 contacts the first shoulder 60 of the first cylinder 34, the cylinder driver 38 may be pushed in a counterclockwise direction in order to rotate the first cylinder 34 counterclockwise. Since the mating non-circular cross-sections of the cylinder driver 38 and the tumbler lever 28 cause them to rotate together, turning the cylinder driver 38 also requires the tumbler lever 28 to rotate. However, in order for the inversion lever 28 to be driven counterclockwise through the cylinder 34, it is necessary to drive the worm gear of the invertor 26 (as described earlier, this invertor 26 is described in "Anderson 4, 1997/12/04)". "Described in detail in Canadian Patent No. 2206932 (this patent is incorporated herein by reference)). However, as described earlier, the worm gear cannot be driven in reverse, so any attempt to drive the flipper 26 through the flip lever 28 causes the flipper mechanism 26 to lock. Thus, the slats 14 of the shutter 10 remain in the position desired by the user unless or until the user actuates them to a new position by pulling on one of the inversion cords 26 on the input of the inverter 26 . To return the blind from this position to the neutral position of Figure 20, the user will pull on the other flip cord 24, driving the flip mechanism, flip lever 28 and cylinder drive 38 in a counterclockwise direction. This causes the spring 40 to return the first cylinder 34 to the neutral position while the second cylinder 36 remains in the same position.

Figure 22 shows the same double pitch shutter as in Figure 20, but in which the tilting mechanism moves the shutter to a position where the slats are tilted closed sideways on the room side. To achieve this from the intermediate position of Fig. 20, the user pulls on the other flip cord 24 (see Fig. 1) (not the one pulled to obtain the room side flip down closed position of Fig. 21). This causes the flip lever 28 to rotate counterclockwise and the cylinders 34, 36 to rotate counterclockwise. Almost immediately, however, the limit stop 54 on the first cylinder 34 impacts the upper bracket limit stop 110 on the respective wall 90 of the housing 42 , stopping further rotation of the first cylinder 34 . The second cylinder 36 continues to rotate counterclockwise until finally its limit stop 54 impacts the lower bracket stop 112 on the respective end 92 of the housing 42, causing the second cylinder 36 to stop. The second cylinder 36 will rotate approximately 180 degrees counterclockwise (as can be seen by comparing the position of the limit stop 54 on the second cylinder 36 of FIGS. 20 and 22 ).

The first rear reversing cable 16ar and the second front reversing cable 16bf fixed on the first cylinder 34 remain fixed in practice, while the ends of the first front and second rear reversing cables 16af and 16br and the second Cylinder 36 rotates counterclockwise. The first front flip cable 16af wraps around the second cylinder 36, pulling the room-side edge of the top slat 14t upwards a distance of approximately Π×r. Simultaneously, the second rear flipping cable 16br is unwound from the second cylinder 36, lowering the wall side edge of the bottom slat 14b by the same distance of Π×r. The end result is the room of Figure 22 with the shutters flipped sideways closed.

Selective Flip Construction

Figures 23-25 show the arrangement of the flipping cables 16 on the mechanism very similar to the mechanism described in order to achieve a configuration in which one part of the shutter is closed while the other part remains open. Reference to FIG. 23 shows several hardware differences between this configuration and the configuration shown in FIG. 20 . First, instead of having two sets of double pitch stepped straps, this blind has a standard single pitch stepped strap with rear flip cables 16r, front flip cables 16f and flip cables 16f at the front and rear, Transverse cords 16t extending between 16r. Next, another inversion cable or actuator cable 16x is secured to the rear inversion cable 16r at a knot 32 or other securing means such as a cord connection clip 32 . Third, the first cylinder 34 does not have a limit stop 54 (the limit stop 54 can simply be removed from a standard first cylinder 34 to accommodate this configuration).

In this configuration, the rear flip cable 16r is wound counterclockwise around the second cylinder 36 and is attached to the second cylinder 36 at the slotted opening 52r. The front flip cable 16f is wound clockwise around the second cylinder 36 and is attached to the second cylinder 36 at the slotted opening 52f. A third flip or actuator cable 16x is wound clockwise around the first cylinder 34 and is attached to the first cylinder 34 at the slotted opening 52x. The other slotted opening 52 of the first cylinder 34 is not used for anchoring the cord in this embodiment. In Figure 23, the cylinders 34, 36 are shown in their intermediate positions with the slats 14 all turned open in a single pitch configuration with all slats 14 evenly spaced.

In Fig. 24, one of the tumbler cords is pulled, causing the tumbler 26 to drive the tumbler lever 28 counterclockwise, which also drives the cylinder driver 38 and cylinders 34, 36 counterclockwise. The second cylinder 36 is driven counterclockwise by the key 78 on the cylinder driver 38 , stopping when its limit stop 54 reaches the lower bracket limit stop 112 on the wall 92 . Since the limit stop 54 on the first cylinder 34 is removed, it cannot prevent the spring 40 from driving the first cylinder 34 and the second cylinder to rotate counterclockwise together. As the second cylinder 36 turns counterclockwise, it will raise the front cable 16f and lower the rear cable 16r. As the first cylinder 34 turns counterclockwise, it lowers the actuator cable 16x the same distance as the rear flip cable 16r. Thus, the entire shutter is flipped closed on the side of the room. When the tipping cable 24 is released, the worm gear on the tipping drive 26 locks the tipping lever 28 in place, causing the cylinders 34, 36 to remain in the position they were in when the tipping cable 24 was released.

To return to the neutral position and beyond, the other flip cord 24 is pulled, causing the flip lever 28 to rotate clockwise. FIG. 25 shows the position of the shutter when the flip lever 28 is rotated clockwise beyond the neutral position of FIG. 23 . When the flip lever 28 is driven clockwise by the flip driver 26, it drives the cylinder 38 clockwise, and the key 78 of the cylinder driver 38 contacts the shoulder on the first cylinder 34, driving the first cylinder 34 clockwise. The spring 40 initially causes the second cylinder 36 to rotate clockwise with the first cylinder 34, but its limit stop 54 impacts the upper bracket limit stop 110 on the wall 92 of the housing 42 at the intermediate position, preventing the second cylinder from rotating clockwise. Any further clockwise rotation of barrel 36. The first cylinder 34 continues to rotate clockwise, causing the actuator cable 16x to wrap around the first cylinder 34, raising the actuator cable 16x. Since the actuator cable 16x is connected to the rear flip cable 16r at point 32, it raises the rear flip cable 16r at this point 32. All the slats 14 supported below the point 32 by the transverse cables 16t are affected when the rear turning cables 16r raise the wall side edges of these slats 14 . The result is that all of the slats 14 below the knot point 32 of the actuator cable 16 and the rear inversion cable 16r are inverted down room side closed and the balance of the slats 14 remains inverted open as shown in FIG. 25 .

The position of the knotting point 32 relative to the rear flipping cable 16r determines the point at which a "disruption" occurs between the slats that flip closed and the slats that remain flipped open. If the actuator cables 16x were alternately attached to the front flip cables 16f instead of the rear flip cables 16r, then the portion of the shutter below the knot point 32 would close in the room side up position, rather than shown here. closed in the room side down position. By reversing the position of the cylinders 34, 36 within the housing 42, the action of the shutter 10 can be reversed from that previously described. For example, in Figs. 23-24, the slats 14 could close room side up instead of room side down as shown.

Folded Appearance Structure

Figures 26-28 show the arrangement of the flipping cables for a typical folded look shutter construction. Referring to FIG. 26 , there are no hardware differences between the folded look configuration and the double pitch configuration of FIG. 20 . In both cases, the two sets of turning cables 16af, 16ar, 16bf and 16bf are twice the standard pitch. The only difference is the arrangement of the turning cables 16 .

In this configuration, there are two flipping cables. The first front flip cable 16af of the top slat 14 is wound counterclockwise around the second cylinder 36 and is attached to the second cylinder 36 at the slotted opening 52af. The first rear flip cable 16ar of the top slat 14t is wound clockwise around the first cylinder 34 and is connected to the first cylinder 34 at the slotted opening 52ar. The second front flip cable 16bf of the bottom slat 14b is wound clockwise around the second cylinder 36 and is connected to the second cylinder 36 at the slotted opening 52bf. Finally, the second rear flipping cable 16br of the bottom slat 14b is wound counterclockwise around the first cylinder 34 and is connected to the first cylinder 34 at the slotted opening 52br.

As in the case of the double pitch shutter shown in Figure 20, the folded look configuration of Figure 26 also begins with the slats 14 of double pitch configuration with the cylinders 34, 36 in the middle position. Referring now to FIG. 27, when the flip driver 26 drives the flip lever 28 in a clockwise direction, the key 78 contacts the first cylinder 34, driving it clockwise, and the spring 40 urges the second cylinder 36 to also turn clockwise. . However, the limit stop 54 on the second cylinder 36 almost immediately impacts the upper bracket limit stop 110 at the end 92 of the housing 42, preventing any further clockwise rotation of the second cylinder 36 beyond the neutral position. The first cylinder 34 continues to rotate until its limit stop 54 impacts the lower bracket limit stop 112 in the wall 90 of the housing 42 .

Due to the front (or room-side) flipping of the bottom and top slats 14t, 14b the cables 16af, 16bf are knotted onto the second cylinder 36 and this second cylinder is closed before its limit stop prevents further clockwise rotation. 36 is only rotated a few degrees and the front (or room side) edges of these slats 14t, 14b remain almost stationary. On the other hand, the rear flipping cables 16ar and 16br are knotted to the rotating first cylinder 34 . As the first cylinder 34 rotates clockwise, the first rear flipping cable 16ar winds onto the first cylinder 34, raising the rear (or wall-side) edge of the top slat 14t to the height shown in FIG. Location. Simultaneously, the rear flipping cables 16br of the bottom slats 14b are unwound from the first cylinder 34, lowering the rear (or wall side) edge of the bottom slats 14b to the position shown in Figure 27, causing the folded appearance of the shutters flipped closed , where the top slats 14t are turned down on the room side and the top slats 14b are turned up on the room side.

Figure 28 shows the shutter in the folded appearance of Figure 26, but flipped closed in the opposite direction to Figure 27. In this case, the flip lever 28 rotates counterclockwise, and only the second cylinder 36 rotates counterclockwise with it (the first cylinder 34 only starts to rotate and is limited by the upper bracket on the wall 90 contacting the housing 42 The limit stop 54 of block 110 stops at once). In this case, since the first and second rear turning cables 16ar and 16br are connected to the first cylinder 34 and the first cylinder 34 does not rotate, the rear portions of the top and bottom slats 14t, 14b ( wall side) edges remain roughly fixed. Simultaneously, the first and second front turning cables 16af, 16bf and the second cylinder 36 rotate together, wherein when the cylinder 36 rotates counterclockwise, the first front cables 16af are wound on the second cylinder 36, by This raises the front (room side) edge of the top slats 14t. As the cylinder 36 rotates counterclockwise, the second front flip cable 16bf of the bottom slat 14b unwinds from the second cylinder 36 and this lowers the front (room side) edge of the bottom slat 14b. The result is a flip-closed blind with a folded look, where the top slats 14t are flipped up on the room side and the bottom slats 14b are flipped down on the room side, as shown in FIG. 28 .

It should be noted that in order to close the slats 14 when turned over in the opposite direction, as in the case of the folded appearance configuration described, it is advantageous to make notches on the front and rear edges of each pair of slats 14, so as to leave a lateral Ladder 16t clearance. This notch can be on the bottom slat 14b only, or only on the top slat 14t, or it can be on both the top and bottom slats 14t, 14b, or it can be on one edge (the opposite edge) of each slat 14 superior.

Double turning rods, parallel cylinder structure

Referring now to FIG. 29 , the shutter 120 is very similar to the shutter 10 of FIG. 1 , except instead of using the flip station 30 , the flip function is accomplished by using a pair of flip bars 28 that are functionally interconnected to a mechanism with an indexing gear mechanism. 124 parallel cylinder inversion station 122, as described in more detail below. The indexing gear mechanism 124 is in turn connected to an inverter mechanism such as a worm gear inverter 26 via a short inverted rod 28'.

Referring briefly to FIGS. 30-33 , the indexing gear mechanism 124 includes an indexing gear 126 , a room side driven gear 128 , a wall side driven gear 130 , an indexing gear housing 132 and a housing cover 134 .

Referring to FIG. 36 , the indexing gear 126 is a generally cylindrical gear defining a left portion 136 and a right portion 138 . The left portion 136 includes a toothed portion 140 extending in an arc having approximately 200 degrees, wherein the balance of the left portion 136 is a smooth toothless portion 142 . Similarly, the right portion 138 defines a smooth toothless portion 144 extending through the same arc having 200 degrees, corresponding to the toothed portion 140 . However, the solid protrusion 146 extends along the balance of the right portion 138 . The indexing gear 126 also defines a non-cylindrical profile hollow shaft 148 dimensioned to receive a similarly profiled tumbler lever 28'. The outside of this shaft 148 defines a cylindrical shaft 150 .

Referring now to FIG. 35 , the wall side driven gear 130 is a generally cylindrical member defining a left portion 152 and a right portion 154 , and these portions 152 , 154 are separated by a radially extending flange 155 . The right cylindrical portion 154 defines a non-cylindrical profile hollow shaft 156 dimensioned to receive a similarly profiled flip rod 28 . The left portion 152 includes a first smooth portion 158 with an accurately manufactured concave section 160 (see also FIG. 31 ) to cooperate with a locking hub or projection 146 on the indexing gear 126 to prevent the driven gear 130 from being stopped during the stopping process. middle movement, as described in more detail below. The left portion 152 also includes a toothed portion 162 that engages the toothed portion 140 of the index gear 126 . Finally, a stub shaft 164 projects from the left side of the toothed portion 162 . The room side driven gear 128 is the same as the wall side driven gear 130 .

Referring to FIG. 34 , housing 132 defines a main cavity 166 that houses indexing gear 126 . Through-opening 168 (see also FIG. 31 ) rotatably supports shaft 150 of indexing gear 126 , which protrudes beyond toothed part 140 to the left. Two smaller diameter cavities 172 on either side of the through opening 168 receive and rotatably support the left ends 164 of the driven gears 128 , 130 .

Referring to FIG. 31 , the case cover 134 includes a plate 174 defining a through opening 176 rotatably supporting the left end of the shaft 150 of the index gear 126 . The plate 174 also defines two hollow cylindrical protrusions 178 sized to rotatably receive and support the right ends 154 of the driven gears 128 , 130 .

To assemble the indexing gear mechanism 124, the indexing gear 126 and driven gears 128, 130 are inserted into respective cavities 166, 170 (see FIG. 34) of the housing 132 such that the left end of the shaft 150 of the indexing gear 126 extends through the housing. The opening 168 in the body 132 and the shaft 164 of the driven gear 128 , 130 is received in the recess 172 in the housing 132 . Housing cover 134 is then snapped onto housing 132 (with protrusion 135 on housing 132 snapping into opening 137 in the cover such that the right end of shaft 150 of indexing gear 126 extends through housing cover 134 and the left end portion 154 of the driven gear 128, 130 extends into the two hollow cylindrical protrusions 154 of the housing cover 134. The driven gear 128, 130 is aligned with the indexing gear 126 as shown in FIG. Wherein the recessed section 160 of the driven gear 128, 130 is just about to engage the protrusion 146 of the indexing gear 126. We refer to the position of the driven gear 128, 130 relative to the indexing gear 126 (and the turning cylinder 184, described below, 182) is called the middle position.

The indexing gear mechanism 124 operates using the principle of a Geneva indexing drive, converting continuous rotary motion into intermittent motion, providing repeatable indexing for the same position. In this case, when the indexing gear 126 is rotated clockwise from the neutral position (viewed from the vantage point of FIGS. until the protrusion 146 of the degree gear 126 fits. The toothed portion 142 of the room side driven gear 128 then meets the smooth, toothless portion 142 of the indexing gear 126 . The indexing gear 126 can thus continue to rotate clockwise while the room side driven gear 128 remains fixed from rotation by the protrusion 146 of the indexing gear 126 abutting the recessed section 160 of the room side driven gear 128 .

However, as the indexing gear 126 continues to turn clockwise, the wall side driven gear 130 turns counterclockwise, and continues to turn up to several turns before its concave section 160 abuts against the protrusion 146 of the indexing gear 126, so that Further rotation stops.

The opposite occurs if the index gear 126 is rotated counterclockwise from the neutral position. That is, the wall side driven gear 130 rotates clockwise before further rotation is prevented by its abutment against the recessed section 160 of the protrusion 146 of the index gear 126 . The room side driven gear 128 also turns clockwise, and continues to turn for up to a few turns before its concave section 160 abuts against the protrusion 146 of the indexing gear 126, stopping further rotation. Of course, the flip lever 28 extends into the hollow cylindrical protrusion 178 and is received within the hollow shaft 156 of the right portion 154 of the driven gears 128,130 so that the flip lever 28 and its respective driven gear 128,130 rotate together.

Referring now to FIGS. 37 and 38 , each inversion station 122 includes a housing 180 , a wall-side inversion cylinder 182 and a room-side inversion cylinder 184 .

Figure 39 shows a wall-side flip cylinder 182, which is a cylindrical member defining cylindrical shafts 185 protruding from both ends, each cylindrical shaft 185 defining a non-cylindrical, inner hollow shaft 186, the shafts 186 set the dimensions to receive and engage a similarly profiled flip bar 28 . The wall-side inversion cylinder 182 also defines an outer cylindrical surface 188 connected to an inner cylindrical shaft 185 via a web 190 . Two elongated openings 192 are defined via the outer cylindrical surface. One of the openings 192 is located near one end of the barrel 188 and the other opening 192 is located near the other end, wherein the two openings 192 are spaced about 180 degrees from each other. Two openings 192 can be seen in FIG. 39 . Inversion cables 16 are secured in these openings, as described in more detail below. The room side inversion cylinder 184 is the same as the wall side inversion cylinder 182 .

FIG. 40 is a perspective view of the housing 180 of the inversion station 122 of FIGS. 37 and 38 . Housing 180 includes two side walls 194 , 196 , two end walls 198 , 200 , and a bottom wall 202 . The end walls 198, 200 each define two "U" shaped saddles 204a, 204b and 206a, 206b that provide rotatable support for the shaft 185 of the cylinders 182, 184, as shown in FIG. Arms 208a, 208b and 210a, 210b extend at an angle of approximately 45 degrees from the plane defined by end walls 198, 200, and they extend above the centerline of flip bar 28 extending through hollow shaft 186 of cylinder 182, 184. out, thus serving to prevent the cylinders 182, 184 from lifting off the housing 180.

The bottom wall 202 of the housing 180 defines two longitudinally aligned slotted openings 212 with a shorter rectangular opening 216 located between the two slotted openings 212 . Slotted openings 212 are used for front and rear flip cables that pass through the housing 180 and through corresponding openings (not shown) in the nose rail 12 . Rectangular opening 216 provides passage for lift cord 20 .

To assemble the inversion mechanism shown in Figure 29, the inversion station 122 is first assembled. The inversion cable 16 is arranged through a slotted opening 212 in the bottom surface 202 of the housing 180 . The ends of the inversion cables 16 are secured to their respective cylinders 182 , 184 at their respective slotted openings 192 . Arrangement and connection of these inversion cables 16 is accomplished as described below in order to obtain the desired inversion configuration.

Cylinders 182, 184 are each mounted within their respective U-shaped saddles 204a, 204b, 206a and 206b. The turning rods 28 are inserted through the hollow shafts 196 of the turning cylinders 182 , 184 , and the ends of these turning rods 28 are inserted into the hollow shafts 156 of the driven gears 130 , 128 . The driven gears 130, 128 will be easily assembled on the index gear 124 as described above. A short tumbler lever 28' is used to connect the output from the rope tumbler mechanism 26 to the hollow shaft 148 of the index gear 126. Note that the cord flipper mechanism 26 shown here is just one type of many flipper mechanisms that could be used for this application. While a rope flipper 26 is shown, it should be understood that the flip lever 28' could be rotated by other means such as a stick flipper or a motorized flipper. It is even possible to make the indexing gear mechanism 124 an integral part of the tumbler mechanism 26 so that the tumbler lever 28' is not required.

Double Pitch Construction

Figures 41-43 show the arrangement of the inverted cables 16 for a double pitch configuration. As already described, in these three figures, and in all subsequent similar figures, the arrangement of the cable 16 and the position of the inverting cylinders 182, 184 (especially depicting the inverting cables 16 and inverting cylinders 182, 184 The relative position of the knotting point) is described with respect to the corresponding position of the slats 14 of the shutter 120. For greater clarity, a perspective end view of the corresponding indexing gear mechanism 124 is included as part of these views (housing 132 removed for clarity) in order to represent the orientation corresponding to the flip cylinders 182, 184 and slats 14. Orientation of index gear 126 and driven gears 128 , 130 .

As described earlier, the turning cable is generally designated 16, but is further qualified by the following suffixes:

- "a" for the first set of turning cables which support the upper (top) slats 14t within each set

- "b" for the second set of turning cables which support the lower (or bottom) slats 14b in each pair

- "f" is for the front flip cables, they are on the room side of the shutter

- The "r" is for the rear flip cables, they are on the wall side of the shutter (also known as the window side)

- "x" for the actuator flipping cable normally fixed on one of the flipping cables 16

Referring to Fig. 41, the turning cylinders 182, 184 are in their intermediate position (as a reminder, this middle position refers to the positions where the turning cylinders 182, 184 correspond to the positions of the driven gears 128, 130, where they are shown in Fig. 32 and 33 is aligned with the indexing gear 126, the recessed sections 160 of the driven gears 128, 130 are just about to engage the protrusions 146 of the indexing gear 126), and the slats open in a double pitch configuration. The first room side flip cable 16af is arranged counterclockwise around the wall side cylinder 182 at the slotted opening 192af and secured thereto. The first wall-side flip cable 16ar is arranged clockwise on the room-side cylinder 184 at the slotted opening 192ar and is secured thereto. The second room-side inversion cable 16bf is routed counterclockwise to and secured to the room-side cylinder 184 at the slotted opening 192bf (not shown in FIG. 41 , but visible in FIG. 42 ). Finally, the second wall-side flip cable 16br is routed clockwise to and secured to the room-side cylinder 182 at the slotted opening 192br (not shown in FIG. 41 , but visible in FIG. 43 ). In this arrangement and configuration of the reversing cables 16, the slats 14 are reversible open in a double pitch configuration as shown in Figures 41 and 29 with the cylinder and gear in the neutral position.

Referring now to FIG. 42 , after the indexing gear 126 is rotated counterclockwise from the neutral position (by pulling on the two tumbler cables 24 which cause the tumbler mechanism 26 to turn the tumbler lever 28' counterclockwise), abutment at its concave section 160 Just before the protrusion 146 of the indexing gear 126, the wall side driven gear 130 (and the corresponding flip cylinder 182 connected to the wall side driven gear 130 by the flip lever 28 and it) just begins to rotate clockwise, preventing the wall side from Any further rotation of the driven gear 130. This situation is shown in FIG. 42, where the knotting points 192af of the room-side flipping cables 16af for the top slats 14t are shown turned a few degrees in the clockwise direction, forming the joint between adjacent pairs of slats 14. Overlap is required (as described with respect to Example 10). Thus, the first front and second rear flip cables 16af, 16br secured to the wall side cylinder 182 remain substantially fixed.

However, as the indexing gear 126 rotates counterclockwise from the neutral position, the toothed portion 162 of the room side driven gear 128 engages the toothed portion 140 of the indexing gear 126 such that the room side driven gear 128 (and its corresponding The room-side inversion cylinder 184) is driven clockwise and continues to turn for up to several turns before its concave section 160 abuts against the protrusion 146 of the indexing gear 126, preventing further rotation. The first rear inversion cable 16ar, secured to the room-side inversion cylinder 184 at the slotted opening 192ar, winds around the room-side inversion cylinder 184, pulling upwardly on the wall side of the top slat 14t. Simultaneously, the second front flip cable 16bf unwinds from the room side flip cylinder 184, lowering the room side of the slats 14b. The result is a configuration in which the slats 14 are turned down and closed on the room side as shown in FIG. 42 .

Figure 43 shows the position of the indexing gear 126, the driven gears 128, 130 and the tilting cylinders 182, 184 for the slats 14 of the shutter in the room side upturned closed configuration. In this case, the index gear 126 rotates clockwise from the neutral position shown in FIG. 41 . This causes the room side driven gear 128 to start turning counterclockwise, but its concave section 160 quickly abuts against the protrusion 146 of the indexing gear 126, locking the room side driven gear 128 (and its corresponding room side flip cylinder 184) , without further turning counterclockwise. Thus, the first rear and second front inversion cables 16ar, 16bf secured to the room-side inversion cylinder 184 remain substantially stationary. However, the wall-side driven gear 130 and its corresponding wall-side flip cylinder 182 turn counterclockwise a few turns, raising the first front flip cable 16af as it winds around the wall-side flip cylinder 182, and Lower the second rear flip cable 16br when deploying from the wall side flip cylinder 182 . The result is that the slats 14 are flipped closed in the room side up configuration shown in FIG. 43 .

optional configuration

Figures 44-46 show an alternative arrangement of the reversing cables 16 on the same parallel cylinder mechanism as described, so as to enable one part of the shutter to be reversible closed while the other part remains open. Referring to Figure 44, the hardware differences between the louver of Figure 41 and the double pitch configuration are:

Instead of having two sets of double pitch straps at each turning station, the shutter has only a single strap of standard pitch construction, including front and rear cables and transverse cables 16f, 16r, 16t. It also has the actuator inversion cable 16x secured to the rear inversion cable 16r at a knot or rope attachment clip 32. The arrangement of these turning cables 16 is described below.

The rear (wall side) flip cable 16r is wound clockwise around the wall side flip cylinder 182 and connects to the wall side flip circle at the slotted opening 192r (not shown in FIG. 44 but visible in FIG. 46 ). On the barrel 182. The front (room side) flip cable 16f is wrapped counterclockwise around the wall side flip cylinder 182 and connects to the wall side flip cylinder 182 at the slotted opening 192f. Actuator inversion cable 16x rotates clockwise about room-side inversion cylinder 184 and connects to room-side inversion cylinder 184 at slotted opening 192x. In Fig. 44, the mechanism (indexing gear 126, driven gears 128, 130 and overturning cylinders 182, 184) is in its neutral position, and the slats 14 are all overturned open.

In Figure 45, the indexing gear 126 is turned counterclockwise via the tumbler 26 and tumbler lever 28', which turns the driven gears 128, 130 (and their corresponding tumbler cylinders 184, 182) in a clockwise direction. The wall side driven gear 130 stops turning almost immediately when its recessed section 160 engages the protrusion 146 of the indexing gear 126, while the room side driven gear 128 (and its corresponding flip cylinder 184) continues to turn for a few revolutions. This means that the front and rear flip cables 16f, 16r do not pull upward or loosen from their barrels 182 any significant distance. However, the brake cable 16x, which is connected to the room-side inversion cylinder 184 at 192x, is wound onto the room-side inversion cylinder 184. This raises the actuator cable 16x, and it also raises the rear flip cable 16r at the point 32 where the actuator cable 16x connects to the rear flip cable 16r, as shown in FIG. The end result is the inverted configuration of Figure 45 in which the upper portion of the louver remains open while the lower portion of the louver is flipped down closed on the room side.

In FIG. 46, the indexing gear 126 is turned clockwise from its neutral position (via the tumbler 26 and tumbler lever 28'), which turns the driven gears 128, 130 (and their corresponding tumbler cylinders 184) in a counterclockwise direction. , 182). The room-side driven gear 128 (and its corresponding room-side inversion cylinder 184) begins to rotate counterclockwise and prevents further rotation as soon as the recessed section 160 of the room-side driven gear 128 engages the protrusion 146 of the indexing gear 126. turn. The actuator cable 16x connected to the room-side inversion cylinder 184 thus remains substantially fixed.

The wall side driven gear 130 continues to rotate counterclockwise, causing the wall side driven cylinder 182 to also rotate counterclockwise. This causes the front inversion cable 16f to wind onto the wall-side inversion cylinder 182 and the rear inversion cable 16r to unwind from the wall-side inversion cylinder 182 . However, because the actuator cables 16x are connected to the rear flip cables 16r at the knot point 32, and because the actuator cables 16x remain substantially stationary, the rear flip cables 16r are only for those above the knot point 32. The slats 14 are lowered. Below the knot point 32, the actuator cable 16x holds the rear flip cable 16r, preventing it from lowering. Thus, the slats 14 above the knot point are folded closed on the room side, while the counter parts of the slats 14 are only partially folded closed at an angle of approximately 45 degrees.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the position of the knotting point 32 relative to the rear flipping cable 16r affects the point at which the "break" occurs between the flipped closed slats and the held open slats. It is also obvious that connecting the actuator flip cable to the front flip cable 16f instead of the rear flip cable as shown here will cause the blind to flip closed in the room side up direction below the discontinuity point, rather than Figure 45. The room shown is constructed side down.

Folded Appearance Structure

Figures 47-49 show alternative arrangements of the flipping cables for the folded look configuration. Referring to FIG. 47 , there is no hardware difference between this folded look configuration and the double pitch configuration of FIG. 41 . The only difference is the arrangement of the turning cables 16 .

The front flip cable 16af of the top slat 14t is wound clockwise around the room side flip cylinder 184 and secured thereto at point 192af. The rear flip cable 16ar of the top slat 14t is wound clockwise around the wall side flip cylinder 182 at 192ar and secured thereto. The front flip cable 16bf of the bottom slat 14b is wrapped counterclockwise around the room side flip cylinder 184 and secured thereto at point 192bf. Finally, the rear flip cable 16br of the bottom slat 14b is wound clockwise around the wall side flip cylinder 182 at point 192br and secured thereto.

As in the case of the double-pitch blind shown in FIG. 41 , the folding look configuration begins with the slats 14 also in the double-pitch configuration when the mechanism is in the intermediate position shown in FIG. 47 . Referring now to Figure 48, as the tumbler lever' turns clockwise, it drives the indexing gear 126 clockwise, and the driven gears 128, 130 (and their corresponding tumbler cylinders 184, 182) are forced to turn counterclockwise. As the room side driven gear 128 engages the protrusion 146 of the indexing gear 126, the room side driven gear 128 and its corresponding room side inversion cylinder 184 are almost immediately prevented from further counterclockwise rotation. Thus, the front flip cables 16af, 16bf secured to the room side cylinder 184 remain substantially stationary, and the front portions of the slats 14t, 14b remain substantially stationary.

The wall side driven gear 130 and its corresponding wall side flip cylinder 182 continue to rotate counterclockwise for several revolutions. This winds the first rear flipping cable 16ar around the wall side flipping cylinder 182 and unwinds the second rear flipping cable 16br, thus causing the rear side of the upper slats to be raised and the rear side of the lower slats to be lowered, This results in the folded appearance of Fig. 48, wherein the top slat 14t is turned down on the room side and the bottom slat 14b is turned up on the room side.

Figure 49 shows the shutter in the folded appearance of Figure 48, but flipped closed in the opposite direction. In this case, the flip lever 28' is rotated counterclockwise from the neutral position, rotating the index gear 126 counterclockwise and driving the driven gears 182, 184 clockwise. Because its concave section 160 cooperates with the protrusion 146 of the indexing gear 126, the wall side driven gear 130 stops immediately, and only the room side driven gear 128 and its corresponding room side turning cylinder 184 continue to rotate clockwise. In this case, since the first and second rear turning cables 16ar and 16br are connected to the wall side turning cylinder 182, and since the room side turning cylinder 182 does not rotate, the top and bottom slats 14t and 14b The rear (wall side) edge remains roughly fixed. Simultaneously, the front inversion cables 16af of the top slats 14t are coiled on the room-side inversion cylinder 184, and the front inversion cables 16bf of the bottom slats 14b are unwound from the room-side inversion cylinder 184, thereby raising the top slats 14t, and lower the front edge of the bottom slats 14b to create the folded appearance shown in Figure 49, with the upper slats in the room side up position and the lower slats in the room side down position.

While multiple embodiments have been described and illustrated, it should be understood that it is not practical to describe all possible modifications and combinations that come within the scope of the invention. Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that modifications may be made to the described embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention as claimed.

Claims (10)

1. the obducent turner mechanism of the architectural openings that is used to overturn comprises:

Turning rod with first pivot center;

Be mounted to the driver that on first and second directions, rotates by described turning rod;

The first and second driven cylinders by described driver pivotable drive;

The first and second upset hawsers, the wherein said first upset hawser is connected on the described first driven cylinder, and the described second upset hawser is connected on the described second driven cylinder, make the described first and second upset hawsers along with its separately driven cylinder rotation and raise and reduce;

The rotation that is used to stop described first cylinder drives the device of described second cylinder simultaneously; And

The rotation that is used to stop described second cylinder drives the device of described first cylinder simultaneously.

2. the obducent turner mechanism of the architectural openings that is used to overturn as claimed in claim 1 is characterized in that:

Described driver is to be mounted to the cylinder driver that centers on described first pivot axis and comprise first and second drive surfaces;

The wherein said first and second driven cylinders are mounted to around described first axle and rotate;

Wherein said turning rod and the rotation of cylinder driver on first direction cause first drive surfaces of described cylinder driver to drive the described first driven cylinder, and the rotation in the opposite direction of described cylinder driver causes second drive surfaces of described cylinder driver to drive the described second driven cylinder, and comprises:

Be connected on the described first and second driven cylinders and the spring that contacts with described first and second drive surfaces of the bias voltage described first and second driven cylinders respectively.

3. the obducent turner mechanism of the architectural openings that is used to overturn as claimed in claim 2, it is characterized in that: one of described first and second upset hawsers are the actuator hawsers, and comprise as a ladder band part the 3rd the upset hawser, wherein said actuator hawser be fixed on described the 3rd the upset hawser on.

4. the obducent turner mechanism of the architectural openings that is used to overturn as claimed in claim 2 is characterized in that: also comprise:

Support the described first and second driven cylinders so that the housing that rotates, described housing limits at least one housing limit stop, and at least one described first and second driven cylinder limit cooperate with described housing limit stop in case stop described driven separately cylinder at least one direction rotation and make the cylinder limit stop that another described driven cylinder is rotated further simultaneously.

5. the obducent turner mechanism of the architectural openings that is used to overturn as claimed in claim 1, it is characterized in that: described driver is a driven wheel, be mounted to around described first axle and rotate, and comprise and be mounted to first and second driven gears that rotate together with the described first and second driven cylinders respectively, described first driven gear and the first driven cylinder are mounted to around being parallel to second rotational of described first axle, and described second driven gear and the second driven cylinder are mounted to around the 3rd rotational that is parallel to described first axle.

6. the obducent turner mechanism of the architectural openings that is used to overturn comprises:

Be mounted to respectively around separately, the first and second upset cylinders of parallel first and second rotational;

The first and second upset hawsers, the described first upset hawser is connected on the described first upset cylinder, and the described second upset hawser is connected on the described second upset cylinder, makes each described upset hawser raise along with the rotation of its cylinder that overturns separately and reduces.

7. turner as claimed in claim 6 mechanism is characterized in that: also comprise being connected on the described first and second upset cylinders drivingly and being mounted to around the driven wheel of the 3rd rotational that is parallel to described first and second axis.

8. turner as claimed in claim 7 mechanism, it is characterized in that: also comprise being mounted to first driven gear that rotates together with the described first upset cylinder and being mounted to second driven gear that rotates together with the described second upset cylinder, wherein said first and second driven gears are mounted to described driven wheel engagement and by it and drive, and also comprise the backstop that stops the rotation of one of described driven gear and make described another described driven gear of driven wheel continuation driving.

9. the obducent turner mechanism of the architectural openings that is used to overturn as claimed in claim 7 is characterized in that: also comprise:

Be mounted to first driven gear that rotates together with the described first upset cylinder;

Be mounted to second driven gear that rotates together with the described second upset cylinder;

Described first and second driven gears limit the smooth of gear parts and substantial cylindrical separately, and wherein said smooth comprises recessed section;

Described driven wheel comprises the part of first and second substantial cylindrical, and described first limits band toothed portion and smooth, and described second portion limits the raised projections part; And

Wherein on some angle position, the described band toothed portion of described driven wheel and the described gear parts of described first driven gear, and the female section engagement of the described raised projections of described driven wheel part and described second driven gear, so that drive described first driven gear, and stop described second driven gear, and on some other angle position, the described gear parts engagement of the described band toothed portion of described driven wheel and described second driven gear, and the engagement of the female section of the described rising jut of described driven wheel and described first driven gear, so that drive described second driven gear, stop described first driven gear simultaneously.

10. the obducent turner mechanism of the architectural openings that is used to overturn as claimed in claim 7 is characterized in that: also comprise:

Respectively with the axially aligned third and fourth upset cylinder of the described first and second upset cylinders; And

First and second turning rods, wherein said first turning rod connect the described first and the 3rd upset cylinder, and described second turning rod connects the described second and the 4th upset cylinder.

Images