Locking mechanism for a roll-up closure
OwnerJohann Henkenjohanninventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A roll-up closure such as a blind or door comprises vertically adjacent, horizontal slats that can be rolled up on a rod. A lowermost slat carries pins that are spring-biased outwardly into locking recesses to resist unintentional lifting of the lowermost slat. The pins are automatically retracted in response to rotation of the rod for raising the closure. An uppermost slat carries a security finger which projects beyond one end thereof and engages the underside of a stop to prevent the uppermost slat from being unintentionally lifted. A cam carried by the rod prevents the pin from moving out from beneath the stop. When the rod is rotated in a closure-raising direction the cam is shifted in a manner permitting the security finger to be disengaged from the stop.
Claims13
A roll-up closure assembly, comprising:
- a horizontal rod rotatable about a horizontal axis,
- a stationary stop surface arranged adjacent said rod, and
- a closure member comprising:
- a plurality of vertically adjacent, horizontally extending slats, an uppermost one of said slats connected to said rod to enable said closure to be wound upon said rod in response to rotation of said rod in a closure-opening direction,
- a security finger projecting from said uppermost slat and arranged to lie beneath said stop surface when said closure is in a fully closed state, to prevent said closure from being moved upwardly independently of rotation of said rod, and
- a cam mounted on said rod and arranged to position said security finger beneath said stop surface when said closure is in a fully closed state, said cam being rotatable with said rod such that rotation of said rod in a closure-opening direction enables said security finger to be pulled from beneath said stop surface.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.