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US 4,649,981 AGranted
Edge seal for fabric covers
AssigneeAppropriate Technology Corporation
InventorRobert E. Bibeau
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An edge seal for fabrics such as insulating window shades is disclosed. The seal is formed by tracks disposed on each side of fabric when the fabric is drawn and the tracks receive the fabric margins. A lip is provided on each track, which interlock with flaps cut in the margins to hold the margins in the tracks even when forces are applied to the fabric which would ordinarily pull the margins out of the tracks.
Claims16
An insulating shade assembly for insulating an object, said assembly comprising:
- a roller mounted at one end of the object to be insulated;
- a shade secured at one end to the roller and adapted to be rolled upon the roller for storage and to be drawn from the roller when desired to cover the object to be insulated, said shade having parallel side edges and being disposed generally in a plane when drawn;
- a pair of channels, one on each side of the object to be insulated, each channel being aligned with one side edge of the shade when the shade is drawn over the object to be insulated;
- a lip secured to each channel and extending generally away from the shade and toward its respective channel, each of said lips having a free edge which is parallel to the corresponding side edge of the shade when the shade is drawn from the roller;
- flaps disposed adjacent each side edge of the shade, said flaps being cut from the shade and being pivotable out of the plane of the shade, each of said flaps engaging the free edge of an associated one of said lips when the shade is drawn over the object to be insulated to maintain the shade in place when a force is applied to the shade in a direction toward or away from the object to be insulated;
- and means for positioning each flap over the free edge of its associated lip when the shade is drawn.
3 more elements
A shade assembly comprising:
- shade storage means mounted at one end of an object to be covered;
- a shade secured at one end to the storage means and adapted to be drawn from the storage means when desired to cover the object to be covered, said shade having parallel side edges and being disposed generally in a plane when drawn;
- a pair of tracks, one track being on each side of the object to be covered, each track being aligned with one side edge of the shade when the shade is drawn over the object to be covered;
- a lip secured to each of the tracks and extending generally away from the shade, each of said lips having a free edge which is parallel to a corresponding side edge of the shade when the shade is drawn from the storage means;
- flaps cut from the shade and being pivotable from a first inactive position generally in the plane of the shade to a second active position out of the plane of the shade, said flaps engaging the free edge of an associated one of the lips when the shade is drawn over the object to be covered to maintain the shade in place when a force is applied to the shade in the direction toward or away from the objection to be covered;
- and means for positioning each flap over the free edge of its associated lip when the shade is drawn.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.