US 5,793,174 AGranted

Electrically powered window covering assembly

AssigneeHunter Douglas Inc.

InventorsJoseph E. Kovach, Michael S. Holford, Gary F. Skinner, Marek Jarosinski, Erwin Gaudyn, David Vogel, Wendell B. Colson

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Abstract

A wireless battery-operated window covering assembly is disclosed. The window covering has a head rail in which all the components are housed. These include a battery pack, an interface module including an IR receiver and a manual switch, a processor board including control circuitry, motor, drive gear, and a rotatably mounted reel on which lift cords wind and unwind a collapsible shade. The circuitry allows for dual-mode IR receiver operation and a multi-sensor polling scheme, both of which are configured to prolong battery life. Included among these sensors is a lift cord detector which gauges shade status to control the raising and lowering of the shade, and a rotation sensor which, in conjunction with internal registers and counters keeps track of travel limits and shade position.

Claims4

Dependent claims

An electrically powered window covering assembly having a headrail, a bottom rail, a window covering secured to said head rail and said bottom rail, a motor operatively engaged to a drive shaft and to a reel shaft rotatably mounted in the headrail, a plurality of lift cords wound around said reel shaft and extending between said reel shaft and said bottom rail for raising and lowering said bottom rail to expand and contract said window covering, said assembly further comprising:

an electrical circuit comprising a microprocessor arranged to receive input and to control operation of said motor in response thereto;
a voltage supply providing a first output voltage to the electrical circuit and a second output voltage to said motor;
a transmitter for producing control signals;
a wireless remote control receiver electrically connected to said microprocessor and arranged to receive said control signals from said transmitter;
and
at least one sensor electrically connected to said microprocessor, and arranged to detect a vertical position of said window covering;
wherein
said receiver is an infrared receiver and is intermittently powered by said microprocessor in either a first mode or a second mode,
said receiver alternatingly being turned on for a first time interval and off for a second time interval when in the first mode, said first time interval being shorter than said second time interval, and
said receiver alternatingly being turned on for a third time interval and off for a fourth time interval when in the second mode, said third time interval being longer than said fourth time interval.

7 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.