Combination window or door covering
A combination window or door covering is disclosed. The window or door covering includes ladders suspended from a header rail and horizontal slats located on the rungs of the ladders. The ladders and slats are moved in a vertical direction by lift cords. A flexible planar shade includes horizontal spaced apart fold lines connected to the ladders. The shade is raised and lowered using the same lift cords that raise and lower the slats.
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This invention relates to window and door coverings. In particular, the invention relates to combination of a venetian blind and a flexible shade.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONVenetian blinds are well known. Such blinds consist of a plurality of horizontal parallel slats supported on cord or tape ladders which are suspended from a header rail mounted to the top of the window or door. A bottom rail is connected to the bottom ends of the ladders. A tilt control mechanism is typically provided in the header rail to tilt the slats to control the amount of light entering the room. Lift cords typically run from the bottom slat to a cord lock located in the header rail. The lift control mechanism permits the lifting or lowering of the bottom rail to control the portion of the window covered by the blind.
One of the disadvantages encountered with prior art venetian blinds is that, when a user tilts the slats to permit light to enter the room, privacy is compromised. Specifically, when the slats are in a position where light is permitted to enter the room, a person standing outside the window or door may be able to see into the room through the openings between the slats.
To address this disadvantage, a number of combination window coverings have been developed. These combination window coverings add a translucent flexible sheet or shade to the venetian blind. The translucent shade permits light to pass into the room when the slats are open, but obscures visibility of the room interior.
The prior art combination window coverings have a number of disadvantages. One of the disadvantages of some of the prior art combination window coverings is that separate controls are required to control the venetian blind and the shade, making such combination window coverings more difficult and time-consuming to operate. Other prior art combination window coverings provide a single control for raising the venetian blind and the shade, but have other disadvantages. Specifically, the single controls are complex and expensive, requiring significant modifications to the venetian blind. In addition, when the shade is raised along with the venetian blind, it does not fold up in an esthetically pleasing manner. Esthetic qualities of window coverings are an extremely important feature for consumers.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved combination window covering which is esthetically pleasing, is simple to operate, is less expensive, and can be manufactured from existing commercially available materials used for conventional venetian blinds.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe embodiments of the invention described herein provide a window or door covering which is a combination of a venetian blind and a shade. In accordance with a preferred embodiment, the window or door covering is a combination of a venetian blind and a roman blind, where both the venetian blind and roman blind can be raised or lowered together using a single control, such as a lift cord or cords.
According to a first aspect of the invention, a combination window or door covering is provided. The window or door covering comprises:
- a) a header rail;
- b) at least one flexible ladder suspended from the header rail, the at least one ladder comprising a plurality of rungs;
- c) a plurality of slats, wherein each of the plurality of slats is supported by a corresponding rung of the at least one ladder;
- d) a lift cord operatively connected to the ladder, the lift cord being adapted to vertically move the ladder; and
- e) a planar flexible shade comprising a plurality of substantially horizontal spaced apart fold lines, wherein each of the fold lines is secured to the at least one ladder.
Preferably, the shade is connected to the ladder only at the fold lines. Portions of the shade between fold lines form a number of pleats when the shade is raised, such that each pleat locates partially behind the adjacent pleat immediately above.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGSIn the accompanying drawings:
The venetian blind portion 12 and shade 14 are suspended from a header rail 16. Preferably, the venetian blind portion 12 is suspended from exterior header rail portion 16a and the shade 14 is suspended from interior header rail portion 16b.
Referring now to
Referring again to
Referring now to
Referring again to
First and second lift cords 38a, 38b may be secured to a heavier bottom slat 40 and run through the slots 36a, 36b of each slat 34. The lift cords pass into the interior header rail portion 16b through openings (not shown). The lift cords 38a, 38b pass through a conventional cord lock 44 and exit the header rail portion through a second opening (not shown), where they are preferably connected together at lift control 42.
It will be understood by those skilled in the art that any suitable number of lift cords may be provided depending on the size of the combination window or door covering 10. In addition, those skilled in the art will understand that slots 36a, 36b are not essential. If the slots are not present, the lift cords may run vertically proximate to either the front or rear vertical cord of the ladders 30a, 30b. In such case the lift cords may be secured by loops in the vertical cord of the ladders.
Referring now to
The operation of the first embodiment will now be described with reference to
The vertical movement of the combination window or door covering 10 is controlled by pulling and releasing the lift cords 38a,b with control 42. For example, in order to lift the combination window or door covering 10 from the fully extended position shown in
As best shown in
The combination window or door covering 10 is lowered by moving the lift cords 38a,b so that the cord lock 44 is released and the blind portion 12 may be lowered using the force of gravity.
The combination window or door covering according to the present invention provides the advantage of manufacturing an improved product using inexpensive standard off-the-shelf parts (i.e. standard cord ladders, and plastic or cord connectors) used for conventional venetian and roman blinds, thereby reducing the cost and simplifying the manufacture of the combination window or door covering.
Referring to
While the present invention as herein shown and described in detail is fully capable of attaining the above-described objects of the invention, it is to be understood that it is the presently preferred embodiment of the present invention and thus, is representative of the subject matter which is broadly contemplated by the present invention, that the scope of the present invention fully encompasses other embodiments which may become obvious to those skilled in the art, and that the scope of the present invention is accordingly to be limited by nothing other than the appended claims, in which reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean “one and only one” unless explicitly so stated, but rather “one or more.” All structural and functional equivalents to the elements of the above-described preferred embodiment that are known or later come to be known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed by the present claims. Moreover, it is not necessary for a device or method to address each and every problem sought to be solved by the present invention, for it to be encompassed by the present claims.
Claims
1. A combination window or door covering comprising:
- a) a header rail;
- b) at least one flexible ladder suspended from the header rail, the at least one ladder comprising a plurality of rungs;
- c) a plurality of slats, wherein each of the plurality of slats is supported by a corresponding rung of the at least one ladder;
- d) a lift cord operatively connected to the ladder, the lift cord being adapted to vertically move the ladder; and
- e) a planar flexible shade comprising a plurality of substantially horizontal spaced apart fold lines, wherein each of the fold lines is secured to the at least one ladder.
2. The combination window or door covering of claim 1, wherein the shade is connected to the ladder only at the plurality of fold lines.
3. The combination window or door covering of claim 2, wherein a portion of the shade between a pair adjacent fold lines is adapted to form a pleat when the shade is raised, wherein the shade comprises a plurality of pleats when raised, wherein each pleat locates at least partially behind an adjacent higher pleat.
4. The combination window or door covering of claim 3, further comprising a plurality of spaced apart ladders, wherein each of the fold lines is connected to each of the plurality of ladders.
5. The combination window or door covering of claim 4, further comprising a tilt mechanism connected to the plurality of ladders, wherein the tilt mechanism is adapted to tilt the slats.
6. The combination window or door covering of claim 6, wherein each of the plurality of slats defines a route hole, wherein the lift cord passes through the route hole of each slat.
7. The combination window or door covering of claim 6, further comprising a plurality of lift cords and a plurality of route holes in each of the slats, wherein the number of lift cords and route holes correspond to the plurality of ladders, wherein each lift cord and each ladder is secured to a heavier bottom slat.
8. The combination window or door covering of claim 3, wherein at least one of the plurality of fold lines is defined by a portion of the shade pinched by a substantially horizontal spline located on an exterior face of the shade, the spline defining a rail along a longitudinal edge thereof.
9. The combination window or door covering of claim 8, further comprising a plurality of clips connected to the rail, each of the clips defining a ring at a distal end thereof.
10. The combination window or door covering of claim 9, further comprising an S-shaped connector connected to each clip, wherein a first end of the S-shaped connector is connected to the ring and a second end of the S-shaped connector is connected to the ladder.
11. The combination window or door covering of claim 10, wherein the second end of the S-shaped connector is connected to a vertical cord portion of the ladder, the vertical cord portion being located between an upper rung and a lower rung of the ladder.
12. The combination window or door covering of claim 3, wherein the plurality of fold lines is defined by a portion of the shade comprising a substantially horizontal envelope located on an interior face of the shade.
13. The combination window or door covering of claim 12, further comprising a ring connector secured to a seam along the edge of the envelope, wherein a portion of the ladder passes through the ring.
14. The combination window or door covering of claim 13, wherein a rod is located inside the envelope.
15. The combination window or door covering of claim 13, wherein the portion of the ladder comprises a vertical cord portion, the vertical cord portion being located between an upper rung and a lower rung of the ladder.
Type: Application
Filed: Apr 19, 2006
Publication Date: Oct 25, 2007
Applicant: Tribute Window Coverings Inc. (Mississauga)
Inventor: Tony Marzilli (Mississauga)
Application Number: 11/406,428
International Classification: A47H 1/00 (20060101);