Covering for architectural opening including cell structures biased to open
AssigneeHunter Douglas Inc.
InventorsWendell B. Colson, Paul G. Swiszcz
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A covering an architectural opening including a support tube and a panel operably connected to the support tube and configured to be wound around the support tube. The panel includes a support sheet and at least one cell operably connected to the support sheet. The at least one cell includes a vane material operably connected to a first side of the support sheet and a cell support member operably connected to the vane material and configured to support the vane material at a distance away from the support sheet when the panel is in an extended position with respect to the support tube.
Claims23
A covering for an architectural opening, the covering comprising:
- a support tube;
- and
- a panel operatively connected to said support tube for moving said panel between an extended position and a retracted position, said panel including:
- a support sheet coupled to said support tube;
- and
- at least two vanes, each vane being coupled to said support sheet, wherein an appearance of an individual vane or a collection of vanes positioned below said support tube remains unchanged during movement between said extended and retracted positions;
- and
- wherein:
- said at least two vanes includes at least an upper vane and a lower vane, each of said upper and lower vanes comprising:
- a vane material;
- and
- a support member operably connected to said vane material and configured in a resilient arcuate shape to bias said vane material from said support sheet to form a pseudo-cell when said panel is in said extended position and to conform said vane material to an arcuate shape of said support member when said panel is in said extended position, said support member configured to allow said pseudo-cell to at least partially collapse to conform said vane material and said support member to an arcuate shape of said support tube when said panel is in said retracted position.
A covering for an architectural opening, the covering comprising:
- a support tube;
- and
- a panel operatively connected to said support tube for moving said panel between an extended position and a retracted position, said panel including
- a support sheet coupled to said support tube;
- and
- at least two vanes, each vane being coupled a front surface of said support sheet, wherein said panel positioned below said support tube is adapted and configured to maintain a constant appearance during movement between said retracted position and said extended position;
- and
- wherein:
- said at least two vanes includes at least an upper vane and a lower vane, each of said upper and lower vanes comprising:
- a vane material;
- and
- a support member operably connected to said vane material and configured in a resilient arcuate shape to bias said vane material from said support sheet to form a pseudo-cell when said panel is in said extended position and to conform said vane material to an arcuate shape of said support member when said panel is in said extended position, said support member configured to allow said pseudo-cell to at least partially collapse to conform said vane material and said support member to an arcuate shape of said support tube when said panel is in said retracted position.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.