GB2280847A

GB2280847A - Curtain of support rail and dependent plastic blind category

Info

Publication number: GB2280847A
Application number: GB9316499A
Authority: GB
Inventors: To-Yan Lui
Original assignee: LUI TO YAN
Current assignee: LUI TO YAN
Priority date: 1993-08-09
Filing date: 1993-08-09
Publication date: 1995-02-15
Anticipated expiration: 2013-08-09
Also published as: CN1032514C; CN1098615A; GB9316499D0; GB2280847B

Abstract

A curtain (10) which comprises a support rail (11) and a blind (12) depending from the rail (11), said blind (12) being formed by at least two depending strands (15) and a plurality of plastic elongate blind elements (14; see figures 2 and 3) extending transversely across said at least two strands (15) and fixed thereto by being moulded thereon. <IMAGE>

Description

CURTAIN The present invention relates to a curtain of the type comprising a support rail and a blind depending from the rail.

According to the invention, there is provided a curtain which comprises a support rail and a blind depending from the rail, said blind being formed by at least two depending strands and a plurality of plastic elongate blind elements extending transversely across said at least two strands and fixed thereto by being moulded thereon.

Preferably, the part of each said blind element moulded onto the strands is expanded in the direction of the strands in order to achieve a relatively stronger fixing.

In a preferred embodiment, the blind elements comprise upright and transverse blind members arranged to form a panel, said upright blind members being moulded on the strands.

More preferably, the ends of the transverse blind members are connected by the upright blind members.

In a specific construction, the intermediate parts of the transverse blind members are connected by the upright blind members.

Preferably, the transverse blind members are also moulded on the strands at where there is no connected upright blind member.

It is preferred that the blind elements are formed by a plurality of separate integral sections extending in a mutually parallel manner transversely across the strands.

More preferably, adjacent sections of the blind elements are moulded from plastic materials of different colours.

Advantageously, the support rail is foldable closed for convenient transportation.

It is preferred that wherein the blind is formed by four blind panels, of which at least one blind panel is slidable along the support rail.

The invention will now be more particularly described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective front view of an embodiment of a curtain in accordance with the invention; Figure 2 is a front elevational view of one end of the curtain of Figure 1, showing a blind thereof; Figure 3 is a perspective front view of one section of the blind of Figure 2; Figure 4 is a partially cut-away perspective view of part X of the blind section of Figure 3; Figure 5 is a partially cut-away perspective view of part Y of the blind section of Figure 3; and Figure 6 is a fragmentary perspective view of a hinge part of a support rail of the curtain of Figure 1.

Referring firstly to Figures 1 to 5 of the drawings, there is shown a curtain 10 embodying the invention, which curtain 10 comprises a support rail 11 and a blind 12 formed by four plastic blind panels 13A and 13B which are generally designated as 13. The outer two blind panels 13A are fixed along opposite ends of the rail 11, and the inner two blind panels 13B are slidable along the rail 11 in either direction to open or close the curtain 10.

Each blind panel 13 is formed by a column of thirty-three blind sections 14 which are hung from the rail 11 by five vertically depending strands 15 on which the blind sections 14 are moulded for being fixed thereto. Each blind section 14 extends transversely across the five strands 15.

As best shown in Figure 3, each blind section 14 is integrally formed by three elongate transverse blind members 16 and three elongate upright blind members 17 intercepting or inter-connecting the opposite ends and the middle of the transverse blind members 16. The strands 15 pass through each blind section 14 separately at the three upright blind members 17 and at the intermediate position of the transverse blind members 16 between each pair of adjacent upright blind members 17, thereby holding the blind section 14 in position.

As illustrated in Figures 4 and 5, at the position where each strand 15 intercepts the blind section 14, the corresponding upright blind member 17 or the three transverse blind members 16 are directly moulded onto the strand 15. As the strands 15 have a fabric surface, which is soft and/or not flat, the blind members 16 and 17 can readily be secured thereto through the moulding-on operation.

Referring now to Figure 6, the support rail 11 is formed by two half-length rail section 11A connected together end-toend by a metal bracket 20. The bracket 20 is generally of an inverted U-shaped cross-section and has its two limbs 21 longitudinally extended in opposite directions to form two pairs of opposed lugs 22. The inner end of each rail section 11A is hinged between the corresponding lugs 22 of the bracket 20 by a hinge pin'23 passing all there-through.

When the rail sections llA are aligned straight, two locking pins 24 carried on a plate 25 are inserted through aligned holes 26 and 27 provided in the bracket 20 and the rail sections 11A , respectively, in order to lock the rail 11 straight for use. For convenient transportation of the curtain 10, the locking pins 24 are removed so that the rail 11 can be folded to about half of its overall length.

Each rail section 11A has a pair of co-extending tracks 18 for mounting separately the corresponding pair of blind panels 13A and 13B. The outer blind panels 13A are supported fixedly, whereas the inner blind panels 13A are supported for sliding movement along the corresponding rail sections 11A to permit opening or closing of the curtain 10.

The moulding formation of the blind sections 14 does not only form the blind sections 14 into shape but also in position on the strands 15. Adjacent blind sections 14 may be moulded from plastic materials of different colours to enhance the visual eye appeal of the curtain 10.

It is envisaged that the transversely extending blind elements, such as the blind sections 14 or the transverse blind members 16, of the curtain of the subject invention, may be fixed to the depending strands at positions other than at both ends or other than at their parts expanded in the direction of the strands, such as at the upright blind members 17 which are in effect the ends of the transverse blind members 16 expanded in the direction of the strands 15, provided that the blind elements are supported by at least two strands in order to attain the necessary balance.

It is also envisaged that each blind panel may be formed by a series of separate elongate blind members, such as plastic rods or sticks, which are connected together and supported by depending strands.

For enhancement of the visual appearance of the curtain, integral inter-connecting parts may be provided across adjacent transverse blind elements at different positions of the blind in order to create various design patterns such as a picture, word or Chinese character(s).

The invention has been given by way of example only, and various other modifications of and/or alterations to the described embodiment may be made by persons skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention as specified in the appended claims.

Claims

1. A curtain comprising a support rail and a blind depending from the rail, said blind being formed by at least two depending strands and a plurality of plastic elongate blind elements extending transversely across said at least two strands and fixed thereto by being moulded thereon.

2. A curtain as claimed in claim 1, wherein the part of each said blind element moulded onto the strands is expanded in the direction of the strands in order to achieve a relatively stronger fixing.

3. A curtain as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the blind elements comprise upright and transverse blind members arranged to form a panel, said upright blind members being moulded on the strands.

4. A curtain as claimed in claim 3, wherein the ends of the transverse blind members are connected by the upright blind members.

5. A curtain as claimed in claim 3 or claim 4, wherein the intermediate parts of the transverse blind members are connected by the upright blind members.

6. A curtain as claimed in any one of claims 3 to 5, wherein the transverse blind members are also moulded on the strands at where there is no connected upright blind member.

7. A curtain as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the blind elements are formed by a plurality of separate integral sections extending in a mutually parallel manner transversely across the strands.

8. A curtain as claimed in claim 7, wherein adjacent sections of the blind elements are moulded from plastic materials of different colours.

9. A curtain as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the support rail is foldable closed for convenient transportation.

10. A curtain as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the blind is formed by four blind panels, of which at least one blind panel is slidable along the support rail.

11. A curtain substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 1 to 6 of the accompanying drawings.