Rolling shutter system

A rolling shutter system comprising a rolling shutter, and bi-directional drive means for rolling and unrolling said shutter, said bi-directional drive means including a sprocket wheel and a bead string trained around said sprocket wheel, said bead string including a plurality of generally round plastic beads affixed to a flexible string, said beads being spaced apart along said string to define therebetween intervals at a spacing substantially equal the average spacing of an adult person's fingers to provide for interdigitation with the fingers of a person's hand, and the beads being sized to provide for substantial axial interference over a relatively large surface area between the fingers and respective said beads.

A rolling shutter system comprising a rolling shutter, bi-directional drive means for rolling and unrolling said shutter, and a one-way friction clutch device for causing relatively high frictional resistance to lowering movement of said shutter and relatively low frictional resistance to raising movement of said shutter, said bi-directional drive means including a sprocket wheel and a bead string trained around said sprocket wheel, said bi-directional drive means further including a worm and worm gear, and said one-way friction clutch device including a friction element and clutch means for coupling said friction element to said worm for rotation with said worm in one direction only.

A rolling shutter system comprising a rolling shutter, bi-directional drive means for rolling and unrolling said shutter, said bi-directional drive means including a sprocket wheel and a bead string trained around said sprocket wheel, a housing for said sprocket wheel, means supporting said sprocket wheel in said housing for rotation, said means supporting including a sprocket shaft on which said sprocket wheel is supported for relative rotation, and overload slip clutch means for coupling said sprocket wheel to said sprocket shaft for common rotation while allowing said sprocket wheel to rotate relative to said sprocket shaft when torque acting on said sprocket wheel exceeds a predetermined amount, said overload slip clutch means including a spider clutch spring having a hub portion keyed to said sprocket shaft and radial arms urged by their resilience into engagement with the sprocket wheel.

A rolling shutter system comprising a rolling shutter, bi-directional drive means for rolling and unrolling said shutter, said bi-directional drive means including a sprocket wheel and a bead string trained around said sprocket wheel, said bead string including a plurality of generally round beads, a housing for said sprocket wheel, means supporting said sprocket wheel in said housing for rotation, and means located in said housing for retaining the beads of the bead string in the sockets of the sprocket wheel as such beads rotate with said sprocket wheel, said means for retaining being flexible and resilient to minimize noise, and said means for retaining including a flexible strap having integral flaps for resiliently supporting said flexible strap.

A rolling shutter system comprising a rolling shutter, bi-directional drive means for rolling and unrolling said shutter, said bi-directional drive means including a sprocket wheel and a bead string trained around said sprocket wheel, a pair of vertical guide rails for said shutter, reel means for raising and lowering said shutter in said guide rails by rolling and unrolling said shutter, a catch rotatable with said reel means, and an obstruction movable in relation to the rolled condition of the shutter for engaging said catch to prevent further rotation of said reel means in a shutter lowering direction only when said shutter is fully lowered in said guide rails.

A rolling shutter system comprising a rolling shutter, bi-directional drive means for rolling and unrolling said shutter, said bi-directional drive means including a sprocket wheel and a bead string trained around said sprocket wheel, said sprocket wheel being interiorly mountable to a side wall of a building, and said bi-directional drive means including a rotating member exteriorly mountable to the side wall and a shaft assembly extendable through an opening in the side wall for coupling said sprocket wheel to said rotating member, said shaft assembly including a drive tube and a universal joint at each end of said drive tube, each universal joint including a ball and socket, and said ball and socket respectively having axial ribs and splines interengaging to transmit torque while permitting relative pivoting movement of said ball and socket.

A rolling shutter system comprising a rolling shutter, bi-directional drive means for rolling and unrolling said shutter, said bi-directional drive means including a sprocket wheel and a bead string trained around said sprocket wheel, a pair of end plates and a shutter spool journaled between said end plates, said drive means being operable to rotate said shutter spool in opposite directions, said drive means including a worm supported for rotation in a chassis, and said chassis being selectively securable to either of said end plates by a respective one of two sets of attachment elements cooperating with attachment members of the respective end plate, the attachment members of each end plate being a mirror image of those of the other, and the attachment elements of each set being symmetrically disposed with respect to those of the other set in relation to a plane through the rotational axis of the worm.