Drapery pleating apparatus and method

A drapery and a support structure comprising a sheet of material, a narrow backing strip, a plurality of stiffening members attached to said backing strip in spaced apart relationship, a fastener carried by each stiffening member intermediate the two endmost stiffening members, said backing strip and plural stiffening members being secured to said sheet of material near at least the upper edge portion thereof, brake means carried by the two endmost stiffening members, a support structure having a channel, and slide carriers carried by said channel to which said fasteners are attached.

A drapery and supporting structure comprising a sheet of fabric, a backing strip, a plurality of stiffening members attached to said backing strip at spaced apart locations, each stiffening member being divided into three parts along vertical hinge lines, brake means secured to the endmost stiffening members, a fastener projecting from the midportion of the remaining stiffening members, said stiffening members and backing strip being fastened to said sheet of fabric near the upper edge portion thereof, handle means mounted on said endmost stiffening members, a channel, and a plurality of slide carriers carried by said channel, said handle means being affixed securely to the two end slide carriers, said fasteners engaging in sockets in the remaining slide carriers, said brake means frictionally engaging said channel to restrain movement of said ends of the fabric, and said three parts of each stiffening member forming a threesided pleat as the ends of said fabric are brought closer together.

A drapery and supporting structure comprising a sheet of fabric, a backing strip, a plurality of stiffening members attached to said backing strip at spaced apart locations, each stiffening member being divided into three parts along vertical lines, a fastener carried by the midportion of all except at least one of said stiffening members, said stiffening members and backing strip being fastened to said sheet of fabric near the upper edge portion thereof, a grommet extending through the fabric and the at least one stiffening member located at one end of the backing strip, handle means passing through said grommet at the end of said backing strip and fabric, a channel mounted above a window, a plurality of slide carriers in a track on said channel, said handle means being affixed securely to one end slide carrier, said fasteners engaging in sockets in the remaining slide carriers, and means for limiting movement of said slide carriers relative to said channel, said brake means frictionally engaging said track to restrain movement of said end of the fabric, and said three parts of each stiffening member forming a threesided pleat at the ends of said fabric are brought closer together.

A drapery comprising a sheet of fabric material, a narrow backing strip, a plurality of stiffening members attached to said backing strip in spaced apart relationship, each stiffening member being divided along vertical lines into three parts, said backing strip and plural stiffening members being secured to said sheet of material along the upper edge portion thereof, and means carried by said middle part of said three parts of the stiffening members for attaching said drapery to a track.

A method of making a drapery comprising cutting a sheet of fabric to size, forming a backing member by cutting from a sheet of material that is stiffer than the fabric a narrow band that is of a length equal to the width of said fabric, forming two hinge means the length of a sheet of plastic material, forming stiffening members by cutting said sheet of plastic into short lengths equal to the width of said band of backing material, placing and dielectrically attaching a plurality of said stiffening members to said backing member in spaced apart relationship, passing fasteners through the intermediate ones of said stiffening members, stitching said combined backing member and stiffening members to one edge portion of said fabric, forming a brake means by bending a strip of material in a loop, and passing a grommet through the fabric, backing member and endmost stiffening members and trapping one of said brake means to said grommet by upsetting the end of said grommet.