Mehtod and apparatus for assembling blinds

An apparatus for assembling blinds from slat material , comprising:

• supply means for supplying a continuous length of slat material;
• punching and cutting means downstream from said supply means operatively connected to the supply means and receptive of the slat material for punching holes in the slat material at predetermined positions and for cutting the slat material into slats of predetermined length;
• outfeed means operatively associated with the punching and cutting means for removing the punched and cut slats from the punching and cutting means;
• lacing means downstream from said punching and cutting means operatively associated with the outfeed means and having a plurality of spaced lacing towers with tape ladders, said lacing means being receptive of the punched and cut slats for inserting slats into said tape ladders;
• and
• abutment means operatively associated with the lacing means for yieldingly arresting longitudinal motion of an incoming slat after it has completely entered the lacing means, wherein said abutment means includes a pivoted backstop, comprising:
• a support assembly;
• a backstop plate attached to the support assembly by a pivot pin;
• and
• absorbing means mounted to the support assembly and disposed in proximity to the backstop plate to yieldingly resist pivotal motion of the backstop plate in a first direction about the pivot pin.

An apparatus for assembling blinds from slat material, comprising:

• supply means for supplying a continuous length of slat material;
• punching and cutting means downstream from said supply means operatively connected to the supply means and receptive of the slat material for punching holes in the slat material at predetermined positions and for cutting the slat material into slats of predetermined length;
• outfeed means operatively associated with the punching and cutting means for removing the punched and cut slats from the punching and cutting means, said outfeed means including:
• a continuously driven outfeed drive roller,
• a pinch roller operatively associated with the outfeed drive roller;
• and
• motive means operatively connected to the pinch roller for selectively urging the pinch roller toward the outfeed drive roller;
• a gate operatively associated with the outfeed means for movement between open and closed positions and disposed in the longitudinal path of movement of an outfed slat, said gate having a tapered cam surface in alignment with the path of movement of an outfed slat to allow the inertia of the slat to open the gate sufficiently for the slat to pass thereby;
• and
• lacing means downstream from said punching and cutting means operatively associated with the outfeed means and having a plurality of spaced lacing towers with tape ladders, said lacing means being receptive of the punched and cut slats for inserting the slats into said tape ladders.

An apparatus for assembling blinds from slat material, comprising:

• supply means for supplying a continuous length of slat material;
• punching and cutting means downstream from sail supply means operatively connected to the supply means and receptive of the slat material which is operative for punching holes in the slat material at predetermined positions and for cutting the slat material into slats of predetermined length;
• outfeed means operatively associated with the punching and cutting means for removing the punched and cut slats from the punching and cutting means, said outfeed means including:
• a gravity-driven gate operatively associated with said outfeed means and disposed in the longitudinal path of movement of an outfed slat, said gate having a tapered cam surface engageable by an outfed slat to allow the inertia of the slat to open the gate sufficiently for the slat to pass thereby;
• a continuously driven outfeed drive roller;
• a pinch roller operatively associated with the outfeed drive roller;
• and
• motive means operatively connected to the pinch roller for selectively urging the pinch roller toward the outfeed drive roller;
• lacing means downstream from said punching and cutting means operatively associated with the outfeed means and having a plurality of spaced lacing towers with tape ladders, each tape ladder having a pair of longitudinally-extending stringers and a series of regularly-spaced transverse rungs, said lacing means being receptive of the punched and cut slats for inserting the slats into openings defined between the stringers and adjacent rungs of said tape ladders, said lacing means further including:
• spring-biased spreader means for conditioning the tape ladders to allow incoming slats to be inserted into said openings of the tape ladder, said spreader means being adapted for permitting the longitudinal passage of the tape ladder while preventing converging lateral movement of the stringers;
• and
• guide means extending substantially the entire distance between adjacent lacing towers for guiding the slats into the lacing towers;
• and
• abutment means downstream from and operatively associated with the lacing means for yieldingly arresting longitudinal motion of an incoming slat after it has completely entered the lacing means, said abutment means further including:
• a support assembly;
• a backstop plate attached to the support assembly by a pivot pin;
• and
• absorbing means mounted to the support assembly and disposed in proximity to the backstop plate to yieldingly resist pivotal motion of the backstop plate in a first direction about the pivot pin.

An apparatus for assembling blinds from slat material, comprising:

• supply means for supplying a continuous length of slat material;
• punching and cutting means downstream from said supply means operatively connected to the supply means and receptive of the slat material for punching holes in the slat material at predetermined positions and for cutting the slat material into slats of predetermined length;
• outfeed means operatively associated with the punching and cutting means for removing the punched and cut slats from the punching and cutting means;
• lacing means downstream from said punching and cutting means operatively associated with the outfeed means and having a plurality of spaced lacing towers with tape ladders and sensors associated therewith, said lacing means being receptive of the punched and cut slats for inserting the slats into said tape ladders;
• positioning means operatively associated with said lacing means for positioning the plurality of lacing towers and their associated sensors into desired positions;
• advancing means including a pair of drive wheels operatively associated with the supply means for sequentially advancing a leading edge of a slat with the drive wheels to each sensor;
• and
• computer means operatively associated with the advancing means for storing information related to the amount of rotation of the drive wheels required to advance the slat to each sensor and for subsequently commanding the advancing means to advance the slats to the desired positions by using the previously stored information in order to manufacture subsequent slats.