Patent Application
20140290875
Embodiments of the present invention relate to a window blind, and especially toward an apparatus for operating a cordless blind that integrated means of raising, lowering and tilting the tapes into a single component.
Venetian type blinds have a series of slats hung on ladders that extend from a headrail to a bottomrail. In most venetian blinds a lift cord is provided each having one end attached to the bottomrail and then passing through elongated holes in the slats up to and through the headrail. When the lift cords are pulled downward the blind is raised and when the lift cords are released the blind is lowered.
In operation, a user must draw the lift cord as a means to open or close the window blind to a desirable position. However, the small frictional surface of the lift cord tends to rub against the hands exerting force thereon, and thus hurting the area of hands contacting with it. Besides, in case of an excessive down-pulling force exerted onto the lift cord or a sudden release at a great speed, the blind body cannot be accurately positioned in a desirable position and the adjustment process must be repeated over again, which is quite inconvenient in operation and may hurt the user's hand.
In recent years the art has been concerned that cords, particularly looped cords, pose a strangulation threat to children who may become entangled in the cords. Consequently, there has been much interest in cordless blinds. These blinds rely on electric motors or spring motors to raise and lower the lift cord. One common cordless blind simply contains a motor connected to a collection system within the head-rail. Another cordless blind relies upon a constant force spring motor attached to spools on which the lift cords are collected. Such structures of the cordless have at least drawbacks of complexities of its components, high costs and hard to adapt to all sized of the window blind.
Therefore, there is a need to develop a method or a mechanism to improve the operations of a cordless window blind without using electric motors or spring motors to raise and lower the lift cord.
These and other needs are addressed by the present invention, wherein an approach is provided for an apparatus for operating a cordless window blind.
According to one aspect of an embodiment of the present invention, an apparatus for a blind comprises a rolling module and a control module. The rolling module is located above multiple tapes vertically spaced by a ladder cord, each tape has an eyelet that communicates to other eyelets and allows a lifting cord extended downwardly from the rolling module. The control module is extended downwardly from the rolling module and comprises an Epicyclic Gearing (EG) assembly, a tube, an universal joint, a spiral plunger, a control assembly. The EG assembly is connected to the rolling module. The tube is a hollow column structure and has a guiding protrusion and a tilter. The guiding protrusion is formed inside and bottom of the tube and the tilter is formed outside of the tube corresponded to the guiding protrusion. The universal joint is connected between the EG assembly and the tube, and is configured for connecting the rolling module. The control assembly is penetrated through the spiral plunger, is located at bottom of the spiral plunger, and selectively moves up and down on the spiral plunger to rotate the tube, wherein the rolling module raises or lowers the tapes by the lifting cord according to the rotation of the tube.
According to another aspect of an embodiment of the present invention, the rolling module of the apparatus for blind further comprises a driving shaft, multiple lifting reels and multiple flipping reels. Each lifting reel has a shaft hole and a lifting gearwheel. The shaft hole of the lifting reel is configured for inserting the driving shaft, and one of the lifting reel is connected to the EG assembly with the driving shaft. The flipping reels are engaged to the corresponding lifting reels, and having a top and an opening. The tops of the flipping reels are configured for fixing the corresponding ladder cords. The opening comprises a teethed portion and a smooth portion formed at inner of the opening, which is corresponded to the lifting gearwheels of the lifting reels that is configured for engaging the teethed portion with the lifting gearwheel.
Therefore, the embodiment of the present invention provides a simple operating blind apparatus than a conventional blind.
The invention is illustrated by way of example, and not by way of limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which like reference numerals refer to similar elements and in which:
Epicyclic Gearing assembly, an universal joint, a tube and the control assembly) in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
An apparatus for operating a cordless venetian blind are disclosed. In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. It is apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that the invention may be practiced without specific details or with an equivalent arrangement. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the embodiments of the present invention.
With reference to
The control module 35 is extended downwardly from the rolling module 50 and comprises Epicyclic Gearing (EG) assembly 13, a spiral plunger 11, a universal joint 12, a tube 16, a block 17 and a control assembly 20. The EG assembly 13 is connected to the rolling module 50. The tube 16 is a hollow column structure and has a guiding protrusion 18 and a tilter 19. The guiding protrusion 18 is formed inside and bottom of the tube 16. The tilter 19 is formed outside of the tube 16 corresponded to the guiding protrusion 18. The universal joint 12 is connected between the EG assembly 13 and the tube 16, and is configured for connecting the rolling module 50. The spiral plunger 11 is penetrated through the tube 16 from the guiding protrusion 18 and has a spiral interacted with the guiding protrusion 18. The block 17 is mounted at the top of the spiral plunger 11 which is configured for preventing the spiral plunger 11 falls off from the tube 16. The control assembly 20 is penetrated through the spiral plunger 11, is located at bottom of the spiral plunger 11, and selectively moves up and down on the spiral plunger 11 to rotate the tube 16. The rolling module 50 raises and/or lowers the tapes 53 by the lifting cord 52 according to the rotation of the tube 16. The tilter 19 is configured for a person to grip on and rotates the tube 16 that changes the angle of the tapes 53.
With reference to
The upper housing 21 comprises an upper flange 23 and an upper teethed portion 22. The upper flange 23 is located inside the upper housing 21 corresponded to the first gearwheel 28 of the actuator 27. The lower housing 24 comprises a lower flange 26 and a lower teethed portion 25. The lower flange 26 is located inside the lower housing 24 corresponded to the second gearwheel 29. As shown in
In operating the blind apparatus, as shown in
After the upper housing 21 moved for a desired height, and the person holds the upper housing 21 downwardly along the spiral plunger 11, as shown in
When the spiral plunger 11 spin, the spiral plunger 11 triggers the EG assembly 13 through the universal joint 12, and let the EG assembly 13 drives the rolling module 50 to raise and/or descend the tapes 53. In this embodiment, the tube 16 spins anti-clockwise for raising the tapes 53. In additional, by implementing same movement several times as above mentioned, it makes the tube 16 spinning continually in the anti-clockwise way to completely raise the tapes 53. In other words, the blind apparatus of the present invention has the ability to conform any height of the window as desire.
In another aspect, as shown in
However, it is noted that a person skilled in art will realize that clockwise or anti-clockwise for raising or lowering the tapes 53 can be mutually exchanged.
With reference to
As shown in
The lifting cords 52 are twines round the corresponding lifting reels 41 and are extended downwardly from the rolling module 50 through the eyelets of the tapes 53, which allows the lifting reels 41 to raise and descend the tapes 53 using the lifting cords 52.
With reference to
When tube 16 spins, the universal joint 12 drives the screw 60 interacting with the turbine 61 of the EG assembly 13 which triggers the planet gears 64 and the sun gear 65. The ring gear 63 and the shaft 62 then drive the driving shaft 40 to make the lifting reels 41 rotating for the lifting cords 53 to raise and descend the tapes 53.
Moreover, in an similar manner, as the tilter 10 spin, the tilter 10 drives the tube 16 spin and makes the driving shaft 40 rotate by the EG assembly 13. The driving shaft 40 rotates the flipping reels 42 that pull the ladder cords 51 up and down to control the rotations of the tape 53. However, it is noted that, as shown in
In other words, as the lifting reels 41 being ganged with the flipping reels 42, and the lifting reels 41 may rotate when operating the flipping reels 42. However, because of the smooth portion 46 and changing angle of the tapes 53 only require slightly rotation angle, the rotation of the tapes 53 will not take effect to the tapes 53 for lowering and raising.
While the invention has been described in connection with a number of embodiments and implementations, the invention is not so limited but covers various obvious modifications and equivalent arrangements, which fall within the purview of the appended claims. Although features of the invention are expressed in certain combinations among the claims, it is contemplated that these features can be arranged in any combination and order.
