Foldable traverse rod
A foldable traverse rod includes a rod assembly and a slide assembly. The rod assembly has a first and a second rod portion connected end to end via a hinge, such that the second rod portion may be turned about the hinge to a folded position to locate on a top of the first rod portion, or to an extended position to locate in line with the first rod portion. Both of the first and the second rod portion are internally correspondingly divided into a plurality of slide channels. The slide assembly includes a plurality of link bars separately mounted in the slide channels of the rod assembly. The link bars may be sequentially pulled outward or pushed inward via a linkage system.
The present invention relates to a traverse rod, and more particularly to a foldable traverse rod.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONMost of the currently commercially available curtain structures for mounting on or in front of windows or window frames are supplied in several fixed sizes. The conventional curtain structure generally includes a traverse rod defining a slide channel, a plurality of carrier slides slidably moving in and along the slide channel, and at least one piece of curtain connected to and hung from the carrier slides. When the curtain is withdrawn, the carrier slides are moved toward an end of the traverse rod.
When a consumer purchases a curtain structure having an overall width of 180 cm, the traverse rod thereof is too long to be positioned in a general passenger car, and accordingly causes confusions in transport. In addition, the large-sized curtain structure also causes inconveniences in packaging and storage thereof. It is therefore tried by the inventor to develop a foldable traverse rod to overcome the above-mentioned disadvantages of the conventional curtain structure.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONA primary object of the present invention is to provide a foldable traverse rod.
To achieve the above and other objects, the foldable traverse rod according to the present invention includes a rod assembly and a slide assembly. The rod assembly has a first and a second rod portion pivotally connected end to end via a hinge, such that the second rod portion may be turned about the hinge to a folded position to locate on a top of the first rod portion, or to an extended position to locate in line with the first rod portion. Both of the first and the second rod portion are internally correspondingly divided into a plurality of slide channels. The slide assembly includes a plurality of link bars separately mounted in the slide channels of the rod assembly. The link bars may be sequentially pulled outward or pushed inward via a linkage system. When the foldable traverse rod is in a folded state, it may be conveniently packaged for transport or storage.
The structure and the technical means adopted by the present invention to achieve the above and other objects can be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings, wherein
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The slide assembly 20 is mounted to the rod assembly 11, and includes a first link bar 21a, a second link bar 21b, and a third link bar 21c. The first and the second link bar 21a, 21b are provided along respective top with a plurality of rollers 23, which are rotatably located in the slide channels 16a, 16b, 17a, 17b, so as to bring the first and the second link bar 21a, 21b to smoothly slide in the slide channels 16a, 17a and 16b, 17b, respectively. The third link bar 21c is immovably located in the slide channel 16c with two ends separately pressed against the end cover 14 and the stopper 18.
The slide assembly 20 further includes a linkage system, so that the second link bar 21b may be brought to move by the first link bar 21a. Please refer to
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The present invention has been described with a preferred embodiment thereof and it is understood that many changes and modifications in the described embodiment can be carried out without departing from the scope and the spirit of the invention that is intended to be limited only by the appended claims.
Claims
1. A foldable traverse rod, comprising:
- a rod assembly including a first rod portion and a second rod portion connected end to end via a hinge, such that said second rod portion may be turned about said hinge relative to the first rod portion from an extended position to a folded position; and said first and said second rod portion being internally correspondingly divided into a plurality of axially parallelly extended slide channels; and
- a slide assembly being slidably mounted to said a plurality of slide channels of said rod assembly, so as to be drawn between a fully retracted position and a fully extended position.
2. The foldable traverse rod as claimed in claim 1, wherein said slide assembly includes a first, a second, and a third link bar being separately mounted to one of said slide channels of said rod assembly.
3. The foldable traverse rod as claimed in claim 2, wherein said first and said second link bar are provided along respective top with a plurality of rollers, so as to slide in corresponding slide channels; and said third link bar is immovably located in a separate one of said slide channels.
4. The foldable traverse rod as claimed in claim 3, wherein said slide assembly further includes a linkage system for said first and said second link bar to be sequentially pulled outward and pushed inward relative to said third link bar.
5. The foldable traverse rod as claimed in claim 1, wherein said first and said second rod portion of said rod assembly are correspondingly provided on a top with a fixing channel each.
6. The foldable traverse rod as claimed in claim 5, wherein said rod assembly further includes a plurality of brackets mounted to said fixing channels; each of said brackets including an L-shaped main body and a locating member rotatably mounted below said L-shaped main body via a support shaft, such that said locating member may be turned about said support shaft to enter into and mount in said fixing channel.
7. The foldable traverse rod as claimed in claim 6, wherein said locating member includes a lever and a latching plate; said lever being operable to turn and orient said latching plate to a different direction for entering into and mounting in said fixing channel; and said lever being provided at an outer end with a stopper, at where a force is conveniently applied to operate said lever and turn said latching plate; and said stopper being contacted with a front side of said rod portion when said latching plate is mounted in said fixing channel.
8. The foldable traverse rod as claimed in claim 2, wherein said slide assembly further includes a hanger provided on said first link bar, and a wand hooked to and hung from said hanger for controlling said first and said second link bar to stop at any intermediate point between the fully retracted position and the fully extended position.
9. The foldable traverse rod as claimed in claim 4, wherein said linkage system includes a primary wing provided on said first link bar to face toward said second link bar, and two spaced secondary wings provided on said second link bar at predetermined positions, such that said primary wing is located between said two secondary wings.
Type: Application
Filed: Dec 29, 2006
Publication Date: Jul 3, 2008
Inventor: Tzong-Fu Lin (Taipei)
Application Number: 11/647,183