US 6,129,131 A · Control system for coverings for architectural openings

Abstract

A control system for a vertically moveable covering for an architectural opening includes a uni-directional drive assembly that is operated with a single pull element such that upon pulling of the pull element, the covering can be raised in increments. A clutch/brake assembly selectively prevents the covering from dropping by gravity between pulling strokes on the pulling element, but a release of the brake allows the shade to drop by gravity from its retracted position to any degree of extension. A governor is further provided to regulate the rate at which the covering drops by gravity. A cord lift system which is operated by the main drive assembly and the clutch/brake assembly includes a rotatable and axially slidable spool about which a lift cord can be wound. The lift cord has one end anchored to the spool and its opposite end extended through a supporting bracket for the spool and downwardly through the covering where the opposite end is anchored to a bottom rail such that a wrapping of the lift cord about the spool lifts the bottom rail thereby causing the covering to be raised adjacent to the lift spool. The lift cord is tangentially fed to the lift spool and forced into an angular wrap on the spool while an outer shell spaced a small distance from the spool prevents multiple wraps so that the lift cord does not become tangled. A return spring biases the spool in one direction to facilitate a controlled movement of the covering from a retracted to an extended position.

Claims35

Dependent claims

An apparatus for moving a covering across an architectural opening, said apparatus comprising in combination,

a lift system operatively associated with said covering to move said covering in at least one direction across said opening, and
a pull system operatively associated with said lift system to cause said lift system to move said covering across said opening, said pull system including a substantially cylindrical rotatable drive member and means for rotating said drive member, a cavity having a substantially cylindrical fixed surrounding wall, and a substantially cylindrical driven member of slightly smaller diameter than said drive member rotatably mounted between said drive member and surrounding wall in axial alignment therewith, and a coil spring having a relaxed internal diameter and external diameter, said coil spring being coaxial with said drive member, said driven member and said surrounding wall, said drive member having a diameter slightly greater than the relaxed internal diameter of said coil spring, said surrounding wall having a diameter slightly smaller than said relaxed outer diameter of said coil spring such that said coil spring is frictionally engaged with said drive member and surrounding wall in its relaxed state but slightly spaced from said driven member, whereby upon rotative movement of said drive member in a first direction the coil spring will become reduced in diameter and frictionally grip said driven member before losing its frictional engagement with said surrounding wall thereby causing said driven member to rotate in unison with said drive member and upon rotative movement of said drive member in an opposite direction the coil spring will enlarge in diameter and lose its frictional engagement with said drive member so that the drive member is free to rotate in said opposite direction without effecting rotation of the driven member, said driven member being operatively connected to said lift system so as to move said covering across said opening upon driven rotation of said driven member by said drive member.

In an apparatus for moving a covering across an architectural opening, said apparatus comprising in combination, a lift shaft extending adjacent one edge of said covering, a drive system for rotating said lift shaft about its longitudinal axis, and a lift system, wherein the improvement comprises in said lift system at least one spool fixed to said shaft for rotation therewith, said spool having a cylindrical wrap surface coaxial with said shaft, and a lift cord extending in a substantially straight line through said covering, said cord being anchored at one end to said spool and at its other end to said covering at an opposite edge of said covering such that as said spool is rotated by said drive system said cord is wrapped on said spool moving said opposite edge of said covering across said opening toward said one edge, said substantially straight line extending along a tangent to said cylindrical wrap surface.

A control system for coverings for architectural openings, said system comprising in combination:

a housing,
a drive assembly rotatably mounted in said housing and including a rotatable drive element, a first clutch element and a driven element, said clutch element being operatively interposed between said drive element and said driven element,
a clutch assembly mounted in said housing and operatively related to said driven element, said clutch assembly including a second clutch element and a releasably braked rotatable element, and
a releasable brake mechanism operatively associated with said rotatable element for releasably braking said rotatable element,
wherein said first clutch element operates to rotatably engage said driven element in a predetermined first rotational direction only of said drive element, wherein said second clutch element selectively permits said driven element to rotate in said first rotational direction and wherein said second clutch element rotatably connects said driven clement to said releasably braked rotatable element in a second opposite rotational direction of said driven element.

2 more elements

An apparatus for selectively extending and retracting a covering across an architectural opening, said apparatus comprising in combination:

a lift system operatively associated with said covering to at least extend or retract said covering across said opening,
a pull system operatively connected to said lift system to effect extension or retraction of said covering across said opening, said pull system including a flexible pull element and a rotatable spool around which said pull element is selectively wound, and a one-way spring clutch operatively connecting said spool to said lift system to effect extension or retraction of said covering across said opening upon rotative movement of said spool in only one predetermined direction while having no effect on said lift system in the opposite rotative direction, and
wherein said spool includes a substantially cylindrical drive member having a first outside diameter and forming part of said spring clutch, said spring clutch further including a driven member of substantially cylindrical configuration having a second outside diameter slightly smaller than said first outside diameter, a fixed member having a substantially cylindrical cavity with a first inside diameter and a coil spring having a second inside diameter that is slightly smaller than said first outside diameter and a third outside diameter that is slightly greater than said first inside diameter, said driven member being selectively rotatable about its longitudinal axis relative to said drive member and said fixed member, said drive member being selectively rotatable about its longitudinal axis relative to said fixed member and said driven member and said drive member being rotatable in unison with said spool, whereby rotation of said drive member in a first direction causes said coil spring to be reduced in inside and outside diameter so that said spring is released from engagement with said fixed member and becomes frictionally engaged with said driven member to cause said driven member to rotate with said drive member, and rotation of said driven member in an opposite direction causes said coil spring to be enlarged in inside and outside diameter so that said spring is released from frictional engagement with said drive member allowing said drive member to rotate independently of said fixed member and driven member.

An apparatus for selectively extending and retracting a vertically moveable covering across an architectural opening, said apparatus comprising in combination,

a lift system operatively associated with said covering to at least extend or retract said covering across said opening,
a pull system operatively connected to said lift system to effect extension or retraction of said covering across said opening, said pull system including means for causing said covering to move upwardly across said opening, and means permitting downward movement of said covering across said opening, said means for permitting downward movement being independent of said means for causing upward movement, and
wherein said means for causing upward movement includes a first one-way clutch system and a pull element and said means for permitting downward movement includes a second one-way clutch system and a brake system operatively connected to said second one-way clutch system, and wherein said second one-way clutch system allows said first one-way clutch system to move said covering upwardly and cooperates with said brake system in selectively preventing said covering from moving downwardly.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Control system for coverings for architectural openings

Life of this patent

Control system for coverings for architectural openings

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims35