US3276511A - Venetian blind - Google Patents

Description

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J. ARMENIA ETAL VENETIAN BLIND Filed June 15, 1964 Oct. 4, 1966 United States Patent 3,276,511 VENETIAN BLIND Joseph Armenia and Virginia Armenia, both of 346 Union St., Brooklyn, N.Y. Filed June 15, 1964, Ser. No. 375,243 1 Claim. (Cl. 160-468) The present invention relates to a combination ventilator and shade of the Venetian blind type.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a highly novel construction for the ventilator and shade slats which includes a highly novel construction for mounting the said slats so as to permit the tilting of the slats or the tilting and raising and lowering thereof.

In accordance with the foregoing object, it is another object of the present invention to provide a construction wherein the slats are mounted directly by tapes which are provided with vertical openings through which portions of the slats extend, which vertical openings tend to close under the weight of the slats so as to securely retain the slats in position in the tapes without the utilization of any additional securing means.

i It is another object of the present invention to provide a Venetian blind of the described type having an elevating cord which does not extend through the slats and which extends laterally outwardly of the slats so as not to interfere with the movement or adjustment thereof.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a ventilator :and shade of the described type which is adapted to be secured by conventional Venetian blind hardware and with which the novel slats and tape construction readily adapt themselves to afford a ventilator and shade which will be extremely durable and yet of a simplified construction and which will eliminate the use of small transverse tapes for individually supporting the slats which are subject to considerable wear and require frequent replacements;

Other and further objects and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to one skilled in the art from a consideration of the following specification taken in connection with the appended drawings.

In the drawing, which illustrates the best mode presently contemplated for carrying out the invention:

FIGURE 1 is an elevational view of a Venetian blind pursuant to the present invention, mounted in position on a window casement, with a portion broken away for purposes of illustration and with various portions thereof omitted for purposes of illustration;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary detail view on an enlarged scale of a portion of the Venetian blind with parts being broken away and shown in section for purposes of illustration;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary sectional view on an enlarged scale, taken on the line 3-3 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of a slat pursuant to the present invention; and

FIGURE 6 is :a fragmentary view taken on the line 6-6 of FIGURE 1.

Referring now to the drawing in detail, there is shown a Venetian blind 10 pursuant to the present invention. The Venetian blind is provided with a headboard 12 which is mounted at either end thereof on a bracket 14 which is suitably secured to the window casement W. A conventional valence 16 fills the space between the headboard 12 and the upper end of the window. The headboard 12 mounts therebelow a conventional tiltboard 18. Adjacent one end thereof, the headpiece 12 is provided at the lower surface thereof with conventional gear and pinion means 20, in which one end of the tilt-bar 18 is journalled. The other end of the tilt-bar is journalled 3,276 ,51 l Patented Oct. 4, 1966 in a hanger bearing 22 provided adjacent the other end of the headpiece. A pull-cord 24 operates the gear and pinion means 20 to rock the tilt-bar 18 in conventional manner.

The headpiece 12 is provided with a longitudinal groove 26 which is defined in the upper surface thereof. Pulleys 28 and 30 are provided in the headpiece at each end of the groove 26. An additional pulley 32 is provided inwardly of the pulleys 30. A slat-elevating or raising cord which is generally indicated by the reference numeral 34, is provided with a loop 36 which depends between the pulleys 30 and 32, as best shown in FIGURE 2. From the loop 36, one portion 38 of the cord 34 extends over the pulley 30 and passes through one end of a bottom slat 40 where it is knotted as :at 42. A second portion 44 of the elevating cord 34 extends over the pulley 32 and passes through the groove 26 in the headpiece 12 and extends over the pulley 28, to pass downwardly and through the opposite end of the bottom slat 40, being knotted as at 46. From the foregoing, it will. be apparent that the bottom slat 40 is carried by the opposite knotted ends 42 and 46 of the slat-elevating cord 34 and it will be understood that when the loop 36 in the cord 34 is pulled downwardly in the direction of the arrow 48, shown in FIGURE 1, the bottom slat 40 will be pulled upwardly toward the headpiece 12. It will be noted that the pulley 32 is contained within a housing 50 mounted by the headboard 12, the housing also being provided with a conventional cord lock 52, whereby the loop 36 is retained in position in any adjusted disposition thereof, so that the bottom slat 40 thereof may be retained in an adjusted position thereof with respect to the headpiece 12.

The tiltiboard 18 is provided with a pair of laterally spaced tapes 54 and 56. More specifically, each tape is provided with a center portion 58 which is secured as by the securing means 60 adjacent to one end of the tiltbar 18. Consequently, it will be apparent that each tape is formed into a front and rear portion, as indicated in connection with the tape 54 by the front portion 54A and the rear portion 54B. Each tape portion is provided, pursuant to a highly novel feature of the present invention, with a plurality of vertical slits 62, it being understood that each slit 62 in a front tape portion is paired with a slit 62 in a rear tape portion viewing FIGURES 1 and 3.

Pursuant to another highly novel feature of the present invention, the tapes mount slats 64 of the type best shown in FIGURE 5. More specifically, each slat 64 comprises an elongated body portion 66 which is provided inwardly of each of the ends thereof with a pair of laterally-extending projections or fingers 68. It will be noted that the slats 64 are free of any openings. It will be understood that the slats 64 may be formed of any conventional material suitable for use in a Venetian blind such as for example, and not by way of limitation, steel, plastic or fibreboard, and it will be noted that the slats 64 are shorter than the bottom slat 40 and are also thinner and preferably of lighter weight than the bottom slat 40. In this connection, it will be understood that the bottom slat 40 may also be made of any conventional Venetian blind slat material but is preferably made of wood.

The upper slats 64 are mounted by the tapes 54 and 56. More specifically, and as best shown in FIGURE 3, each pair of associated projections or fingers 68 is inserted into an associated pair of vertical slits 62 in the front and rear portions of the associated tape 54 or 56, as the case may be. When so mounted, it will be noted that the slats 64 terminate inwardly of the opposite end portions 38 and 44 of the slat-elevating cord 34, as best shown in FIGURE 1. Moreover, it will be understood that the weight of each slat bearing upon the bottom of the associated vertical slits 62 tends to cause said slits to close or constrict so as to securely retain the slats in position on the tapes 54 and 56 without the necessity of any additional securing means. Since the engagement of the slats and the tapes is accomplished solely by the insertion of the slat projections 68 into the tape slits 62, it will be readily apparent that the slats can be easily removed for cleaning or replacement and then very simply inserted into the tapes without the requirement for utilizing any particular tools or without the necessity for making any type of fixed or permanent securement of the slats to or in the tapes. Moreover, it will be noted that this ready removal and replacement of the various slats 64 in the associated tapes 54 and 56 is facilitated due to the fact that the slat-lift cord 34 does not extend through the slats 64, as in the prior art. As previously indicated, the lift cord is secured only to the bot-tom slat 40 and is free of any direct association with any slats 64. Further, it will be understood that pulling downwardly on the loop 34, as indicated by the arrow 48 in FIGURE 1, will be effective to lift the bottom slat 40 and all of the slats 64 thereabove, so as to raise the slats toward the tilt-bar 18. Similarly, the release of the raised slats by releasing the cord 34 from the lock 52 will permit the slats to open or move downwardly under the action of gravity, as facilitated by the weight of the bottom slat 40.

The slats may be opened or closed by tilting thereof in conventional manner. More specifically and for this purpose, the pull-cord 24 is operated so as to operate the gear and pinion means in conventional manner for tilting the tilt-bar 18, as may be desired, where-by one or the other .of each tape section is lifted or moved downwardly, depending upon the direction of tilting of the tilt-bar 18 and the resultant movement of the tape sections is effective to operate on the complementary or associated projections 68 of the various slats 64, so as to tilt the slats 64 in the same direction as the tilting of the tilt-bar 18. More specifically, and as best shown in FIGURE 6, the various slats are moved from the full line to the broken-line position thereof when the pull cord 24 is operated in a direction so as to tilt the tilt-bar-IS to move the front tape sections 54A and 64A downwardly, as indicated by the arrow 70, while moving the rear tape sections 54B and 56B upwardly, as indicated by the arrow 72.

In view of the foregoing, it will be readily apparent that there has been illustrated and descrilbed a highly novel and efficient Venetian blind construction. It will be understood that various changes and modifications may be made therein without, however, departing from the inventive concept thereof, as set forth in the appended claim.

We claim:

In a Venetian blind construction having a tilt-bar and manually operable means to rock said tilt-bar about its longitudinal axis, a pair of laterally spaced tape means provided on said tilt-bar, a bottom slat mounted by said tape means, a manually operable lift cord extending downwardly from said tilt-bar, said bottom slat being engaged with said lift cord whereby to raise and lower said bottom slat relative to said tilt-bar, and a plurality of upper slats spaced vertically between said tilt-bar and said bottom slat, each pair of tape means having laterally spaced portions between which said upper slats are releasably engaged, said upper slats having lateral projections and said tape portions having slits defined therein in which said lateral projections are received.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 932,127 8/1909 Hough 160236 X 2,165,292 7/1939 Morse et al. 160-173 2,280,931 4/1942 Rice 160-173 2,379,353 6/1945 Herron 1 60-178 2,555,737 6/1951 Frankel et al. 160178 2,682,427 6/1954 Bright -14 2,884,052 4/1959 Lando et a1. 168

HARRISON R. MOSELEY, Primary Examiner. P. M. CAUN, Assistant Examiner.

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