Method and apparatus for making a Roman shade

An apparatus for making a Roman shade having plural horizontal rows of pleats, each pleat being secured at spaced locations along its length, from a sheet of flexible material comprising:

• a pleater support;
• pleat forming means mounted to said pleater support for forming pleats in the sheet of material, said pleat forming means projecting outwardly from the pleater support and aligned in a direction normal to the side edges of the sheet such that folding of the material about said pleat forming portion forms a pleat in the material, said pleat forming means including gaps along its length so as to permit the securing of the folded pleat of material at the gaps while the material is folded about the pleat forming means,
• said pleat forming means including plural spaced apart pleater elements positioned along the length of a common pleat or fold of the material each with a pleat forming portion projecting outwardly from said pleater support, the gaps comprising the spaces between said pleater elements;
• and
• said apparatus including pleater mounting means for slidably mounting said pleater elements to said pleater support for movement along the common fold, said apparatus further including pleater retaining means for releasably holding said pleater elements in desired positions.

An apparatus for making a Roman shade having plural horizontal rows of pleats, each pleat being secured at spaced locations along its length, from a sheet of flexible material comprising:

• a pleater support;
• pleat forming means mounted to said pleater support for forming pleats in the sheet of material, said pleat forming means projecting outwardly from the pleater support and aligned in a direction normal to the side edges of the sheet such that folding of the material about said pleat forming portion forms a pleat in the material, said pleat forming means including gaps along its length so as to permit the securing of the folded pleat of material at the gaps while the material is folded about the pleat forming means;
• and
• including fastening means for securing the folded pleats of material at the gaps while the material is folded about the pleat forming means, said fastening means comprising first and second plates with central apertures positioned with the folded sheet between the plates, and hollow eyelet means for insertion through the apertures and fold of fabric forming the pleat to secure the plate together to thereby retain the pleat in the sheet.

An apparatus for making a Roman shade having plural horizontal rows of pleats, each pleat being secured at spaced locations along its length comprising:

• an upright frame;
• an elongated sheet holding member extending transversely across the frame which holds the upper edge of the sheet of material in a horizontal position;
• suspension means for slidably mounting said sheet holding member to said frame for selective vertically upward and downward movement;
• a pleater support mounted to said frame;
• pleat forming means mounted to said pleater support for forming pleats in the sheet of material, said pleat forming means projecting outwardly from the pleater support and the surface of the sheet, being aligned in an outwardly extending horizontal plane and thereby normal to the side edges and surface of a support sheet, such that folding of the material about said pleat forming means forms a pleat in the material, said pleat forming means including gaps spaced along its length so as to permit the securing of the folded pleat of material at the gaps while the material is folded about the pleat forming means.

A method of making a Roman shade from a sheet of flexible material comprising:

• folding the sheet about an elongated pleat forming member to form a first elongated pleat;
• releasably clamping the material to the pleat forming member to temporarily hold the first pleat;
• fastening the folded material together with fasteners positioned at spaced apart locations along the first pleat while the first pleat is clamped to the pleat forming member;
• releasing the first pleat from the pleat forming member with the first pleat being retained by fasteners;
• positioning and folding an unpleated portion of the sheet about an elongated pleat forming member to form a second elongated pleat which is parallel to the first pleat;
• releasably clamping the material to the pleat forming member to temporarily hold the second pleat;
• fastening the folded material together with fasteners positioned at spaced apart locations along the second pleat while the second pleat is claimped to the pleat forming member;
• and
• releasing the second pleat from the pleat forming member with the pleats being retained by the fasteners.