Shutter assembly
AssigneeHunter Douglas Industries BV
InventorKen Rotchell
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A shutter assembly including a plurality of shutter panels arranged side-by-side. Each shutter panel has a respective plurality of louvers and a respective operable tilt mechanism configured to adjust the tilt angle of the respective plurality of louvers. A control shaft operates the tilt mechanisms. The control shaft is configured to drive simultaneously the respective tilt mechanisms of all of the plurality of shutter panels.
Claims18
A method for operating a shutter assembly, the shutter assembly including a plurality of shutter panels arranged side-by-side, each shutter panel including a respective plurality of louvers and a respective operable tilt mechanism configured to adjust a tilt angle of said respective plurality of louvers, the method comprising:
- simultaneously driving said respective tilt mechanisms of all of said plurality of shutter panels via a control shaft operatively coupled to said respective tilt mechanisms;
- and
- disengaging said respective tilt mechanism of at least one shutter panel of said plurality of shutter panels from said control shaft to allow said respective tilt mechanism of said at least one shutter panel to be operated independent of said control shaft;
- wherein said at least one shutter panel is movable between a closed position, at which said at least one shutter panel is configured to be aligned with other of said plurality of shutter panels along a plane, and an opened position, at which said at least one shutter panel is pivoted away from said plane.
A method for operating a shutter assembly, the shutter assembly including a plurality of shutter panels arranged side-by-side, each shutter panel including a respective plurality of louvers and a respective operable tilt mechanism configured to adjust a tilt angle of said respective plurality of louvers, the method comprising:
- simultaneously driving said respective tilt mechanisms of all of said plurality of shutter panels via a control shaft operatively coupled to said respective tilt mechanisms;
- and
- decoupling said respective tilt mechanism of at least one shutter panel of said plurality of shutter panels from said control shaft via a clutch coupled between said control shaft and said respective tilt mechanism of said at least one shutter panel to allow said respective tilt mechanism of said at least one shutter panel to be operated independent of said control shaft;
- wherein decoupling said respective tilt mechanism of said at least one shutter panel from said control shaft via said clutch comprising slipping said clutch when said tilt angle of said respective plurality of louvers of said at least one shutter panel is manually adjusted.
A method for operating a shutter assembly, the shutter assembly including a plurality of shutter panels arranged side-by-side, each shutter panel including a respective plurality of louvers and a respective operable tilt mechanism configured to adjust a tilt angle of said respective plurality of louvers;
- the method comprising:
- simultaneously driving said respective tilt mechanisms of all of said plurality of shutter panels via a control shaft operatively coupled to said respective tilt mechanisms;
- and
- decoupling said respective tilt mechanism of at least one shutter panel of said plurality of shutter panels from said control shaft via a clutch coupled between said control shaft and said respective tilt mechanism of said at least one shutter panel to allow said respective tilt mechanism of said at least one shutter panel to be operated independent of said control shaft;
- wherein decoupling said respective tilt mechanism of said at least one shutter panel from said control shaft via said clutch comprising slipping said clutch when said respective plurality of louvers of said at least one shutter panel have been tilted to a maximum tilt angle.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.