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US 8,739,854 B2Granted
Pre-assembled and pre-tensioned shade with indexing gear tensioner
AssigneeQmotion Incorporated
InventorsWillis J. Mullet, Harry E. Asbury
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A movable assembly having a counterbalance gear tensioner includes a covering, a rotatable storage roll with a hollow interior that carries the covering, and a counterbalance assembly that is received in the hollow interior to assist in movement of the covering. A gear tensioner is also received in the hollow interior, rotates with the rotatable storage roll, and is coupled to the counterbalance assembly to adjust a tension force of the counterbalance assembly.
Claims9
A movable assembly having a counterbalance gear tensioner, comprising:
- a covering;
- a rotatable storage roll that carries said covering, said storage roll having a hollow interior;
- a counterbalance assembly received in said hollow interior, wherein said counterbalance assembly assists in movement of said covering;
- and
- a gear tensioner received in said hollow interior and rotatable with said rotatable storage roll, and coupled to said counterbalance assembly, said gear tensioner adjusting a tension force of said counterbalance assembly, said gear tensioner comprising
- a housing, wherein said housing comprises
- a housing stop;
- a ring gear rotatably received in said housing, said ring gear including a gear stop that is engageable with said housing stop after said housing has rotated a predetermined number of times;
- a pinion gear rotatably supported by said housing and engaging said ring gear;
- and
- a spindle rotatably received in and extending from said housing, one end of said spindle coupled to said counterbalance assembly, said spindle having a single spindle gear tooth engageable with said pinion gear, wherein a full rotation of said housing with respect to said spindle results in only incremental rotation of said ring gear and said pinion gear, wherein said pinion gear has a plurality of pinion teeth with grooves therebetween, said plurality of pinion teeth alternating between short teeth and long teeth, said ring gear having a plurality of inner teeth with grooves therebetween that engage said short teeth and said long teeth, and said at least one spindle gear tooth having a tooth groove that engages only one of said plurality of long teeth and bypasses said plurality of short teeth on each complete rotation of said spindle.
8 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.