Roll-up retractable covering for architectural openings
AssigneeHunter Douglas Inc.
InventorsWendell B. Colson, Terrence M. Drew, Paul G. Swiszcz, Jason T. Throne
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A retractable covering for an architectural opening includes a headrail in which a control system is mounted and a fabric suspended from the headrail. The fabric is mounted to be moved laterally between a rolled up retracted position and an extended position across the architectural opening. At least one roller about which the fabric can be wrapped is mounted at an end of the headrail for rotation about a vertical axis, and the system includes a flexible control element that is substantially horizontally disposed for moving the covering between extended and retracted positions.
Claims31
A retractable covering for an architectural opening, comprising:
- a headrail;
- a fabric suspended substantially vertically from said headrail;
- and
- a control system operative to move said fabric between extended and retracted positions, said control system including:
- a hub attached to said headrail and rotatable about a substantially vertical axis;
- a flexible element having a first end attached to said hub and wrappable about said hub, said flexible element extending along and attached to a top edge of said fabric, wherein when said flexible element is wrapped about said hub, said fabric is wrapped about said substantially vertical axis and is only wrapped about itself beneath said hub;
- and
- a spacer system attached to said flexible element and operative to regulate the circumferential spacing between each wrap of said flexible element about said hub.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.