Patent Application
20180283092
This application makes reference to U.S. Pat. No. 9,540,817 to David R. Hall et al., entitled “Motorized Gearbox Assembly with Through-Channel Design,” and is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
This invention relates generally to the field of window coverings and more specifically to motorized, battery-powered window coverings.
Many window blinds and shades are becoming motorized. This presents new problems in the design of such devices. One such problem includes powering the motor. Some solutions include using batteries. Some batteries are disposed outside the shade, such as outside the headrail or tube. However, this presents aesthetic problems, as well as problems exposing the battery to environmental conditions. Some manufacturers have placed batteries inside the headrail or tube. Unfortunately, access to the batteries is still a challenge. In some cases, the window blind or shade must be removed to replace the batteries. In some roller shade cases, the shade must be completely unrolled and the tube exposed to remove and replace the batteries. This can be problematic if the batteries are completely dead, and can be inconvenient whether the batteries are dead or not. Thus, there is still room for improvement.
Embodiments of motorized window coverings are described herein that address at least some of the issues described above in the Background. Various embodiments may include a shade, a shade deployment assembly, one or more batteries, and wiring. The shade may include an upper end and a lower end opposite the upper end. The shade deployment assembly may be disposed at the upper end and may deploy the shade to cover a window. The shade deployment assembly may comprise a rotatable element, a motor and gear assembly that rotates the rotatable element, and one or more mounting brackets. The mounting brackets may mount the shade deployment assembly to a surface. The shade may be directly connected to the shade deployment assembly, such as to the rotatable element. The battery may be removably connected to the shade at the lower end. The one or more batteries may power the motor. Wiring may be disposed in the shade. The wiring may electrically couple the motor to the one or more batteries.
A more particular description of the window covering summarized above is made below by reference to specific embodiments. Several embodiments are depicted in drawings included with this application, in which:
A detailed description of embodiments of various window covering embodiments is provided below with examples in the appended figures. Those of skill in the art will recognize that the components of the invention as described by example in the figures below could be arranged and designed in a wide variety of different configurations. Thus, the detailed description of the embodiments in the figures is merely representative of embodiments of the invention, and is not intended to limit the scope of the invention as claimed.
The described embodiments do not form an exhaustive list of all potential embodiments of the claimed invention; various combinations of the described embodiments are also envisioned, and are inherent from the descriptions of the embodiments below. Additionally, embodiments not described below that meet the limitations of the appended claims are also envisioned, as is recognized by those of skill in the art.
Each FIG. is described separately from each other FIG, except that some sub-FIGs. of the same FIG. (e.g.,
Embodiments of motorized window coverings are described herein. Various embodiments may include a shade, a shade deployment assembly, one or more batteries, and wiring. The shade may include an upper end and a lower end opposite the upper end. The shade deployment assembly may be disposed at the upper end and may deploy the shade to cover a window. The shade deployment assembly may comprise a rotatable element, a motor that rotates the rotatable element, and one or more mounting brackets. The mounting brackets may mount the shade deployment assembly to a surface. The shade may be directly connected to the shade deployment assembly, such as to the rotatable element. The battery may be removably connected to the shade at the lower end. The one or more batteries may power the motor. Wiring may be disposed in the shade. The wiring may electrically couple the motor to the one or more batteries.
Embodiments of the motorized window covering may include various types of interior and/or exterior window coverings. Such window coverings may include blinds, shutters, shades and/or drapes. Specific embodiments may include slat blinds, venetian blinds, vertical blinds, roman blinds, mini blinds, micro blinds, louvers, jalousies, brise soleil, pleated blinds, interior shutters, plantation shutters, café shutters, roller shades, cellular shades, roman shades, pleated shades, bamboo shades, sheer shades, curtains, drapes, and/or valances, among others.
The shade may comprise any of a variety of structures and/or materials. In various embodiments, the shade may include rigid slats and/or a flexible panel. The shade may be formed of wood, aluminum, bamboo, vinyl, one or more synthetic polymers, fabric, cotton, polyester, nylon, polyethylene, polyvinylidene chloride, LDPE, or combinations thereof. The wiring may be incorporated and/or integrated into the shade in a variety of ways. For example, the shade may include a flexible panel, and the wiring may be integrated into the flexible panel. The flexible panel may be comprised of a woven material, such as a woven fabric, and the wiring may be woven into the flexible woven panel similar to how strands forming the woven panel are woven together. The wiring may include one or more wires, each wire having a thickness equal to the thickness of one strands plus or minus 50% of the thickness of the strand. The wires may include non-conductive sheathing, and may be woven into the fabric. Such may be accomplished by alternating one or more bobbins of wire with bobbins of strands. In some embodiments, the flexible panel may for comprised of one or more layers of thermoformed polymer material. In some embodiments, the wiring may be pressed between two layers of polymer heated above the polymer's glass transition temperature. In other embodiments, the wiring may be pressed into a single layer of heated polymer. In some embodiments, the shade may include one or more strings connected to the rotatable element. The strings may include the wiring.
The shade deployment assembly may correspond to a variety of different window covering types. The assembly may include a headrail, the deploying mechanism, and/or one or more mounting brackets. The rotatable element may include a roller tube and/or a tilt rod. The rotatable element may be comprised of one or more materials, including wood, aluminum, steel, carbon fiber, fiberglass, PVC, ABS, and/or combinations thereof, among others. The rotatable element may be connected to the shade, such as by one or more strings, cords, glue, tape, rivets, and/or pins, among other means. The mounting brackets may include means for mounting the shade deployment assembly to a mounting surface, such as a wall and/or window frame.
The motor and gear assembly may include various components, including a stator, a rotor, a transmission, and/or a control unit. The control unit may include hardware memory, one or more hardware processors, and/or one or more transceivers. The hardware memory may store instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the stator to rotate the rotor and transmit the rotation of the rotor via the transmission to the rotatable element. The instructions may include various directions and/or durations of rotation. The instructions may include detecting hard stops of the deploying mechanism and storing positions of the deploying mechanism corresponding to the hard stops. Such may be accomplished, for example, using one or more position encoders. Such position encoders may include, for example, one or more diametrically magnetized magnets.
The battery may be disposed in, on, or may form a bottom portion of the motorized window covering. The bottom portion may correspond to a variety of different window covering types. In various embodiments, the bottom portion may be an endmost portion of the shade opposite an end of the shade connected to the rotatable element. For example, in some venetian blind embodiments, the bottom portion may include a bottom slat. The bottom slat may be thicker than other slats of the shade, and/or may be partially hollowed. The one or more batteries may be disposed in and/or on the bottom portion, or may form the bottom portion. The bottom slat may include a detachable panel over the one or more batteries. In some roller shade embodiments, the bottom portion may include a weight at the end-most portion of the shade opposite the end connected to the rotatable element. The shade may be wrapped around the weight, or may be otherwise connected to the weight. The weight may be partially hollowed to include space for the one or more batteries, and may include a removable end cap over the one or more batteries that allows a user to access and/or exchange the batteries. In various embodiments, the one or more batteries may be disposed in a housing connected to the shade. The housing may include a removable panel and/or cap that may be removed to allow access to the one or more batteries.
The bottom portion may include one or more control buttons electrically coupled to the motor by the wiring. The one or more control buttons may be disposed at the same end of the shade as the one or more batteries. The control buttons may include buttons for lowering and/or raising the window covering, tilting blind slats, and/or programming the motor control unit. The control buttons may be disposed on an external surface of the bottom portion and/or the shade. In some embodiments, one or more of the control buttons may be disposed and/or hidden beneath an external design feature of the bottom portion and/or the shade. The control buttons may be visually hidden beneath the external design feature. For example, a layer of vinyl may be disposed on a bottom slat of a set of venetian blinds. The layer of vinyl may cover the control buttons. As another example, the shade may wrap around a tube, and the control buttons may be disposed on the tube beneath the shade. The control buttons may communicate with the motor control unit to deploy the shade.
In some embodiments, the bottom portion and/or the one or more batteries may be integral with the shade. For example, in some vertical blinds embodiments, the bottom portion and/or the one or more batteries may include a length of one or more bottom ends of one or more vertical blind slats. In some horizontal blind embodiments, the bottom portion and/or the one or more batteries may include a bottom-most slat connected by one or more strings to the other slats of the shade. In some roller shade embodiments, the bottom portion and/or the one or more batteries may include a weight wrapped in a bottom-most portion of the flexible panel. However, in other embodiments, the bottom portion and/or the one or more batteries may be detachable from the shade. For example, the shade may include a flexible panel including one or more magnets disposed at a bottom end of the shade. The bottom portion and/or the one or more batteries may include a tube with a slot running longitudinally along the tube having a magnetic face that corresponds to the magnets disposed at the bottom end of the shade. As another example, the shade may include a set of horizontal slats connected by strings. Ends of one or more of the strings may include clips and/or magnets that connect to a detachable bottom slat that forms the bottom portion and/or the one or more batteries.
The bottom portion may include various electrical components in addition to the one or more batteries. For example, the bottom portion may include a housing within which the one or more batteries are disposed. The housing may include a charging port electrically coupled to the one or more batteries. The housing may include a data port electrically coupled to the one or more batteries of the motor. In such embodiments, at least some of the wiring comprises one or more data lines connecting the data port to the motor control unit. In embodiments including the control buttons in the bottom portion, the wiring may connect the control buttons to the motor control unit. In some embodiments, the bottom portion may include a wireless transceiver. The wireless transceiver may communicate wirelessly with the motor control unit transceiver.
The one or more batteries may include rechargeable batteries and/or disposable batteries. The batteries may include various lithium ion batteries and/or alkaline batteries. The batteries may be disposed within the bottom portion.
The wiring may be embodied in any of a variety of ways. For example, the shade may include one or more strings connecting vertical slats to the rotatable element. The strings may include the wiring, such as incorporating the wiring into at least one of the strings. Such may be accomplished by winding the wiring into the one or more strings. In some embodiments, the wiring may include a set of individually sheathed wires, or sets of collectively sheathed wires. The sets of wires may be interwoven to form at least one of the strings. The coloring of the sheathing may correspond to a color scheme of the shade, such as the other strings, to camouflage the wiring in the shade. The wiring may have an ampacity ranging from 3 Amps to 20 Amps. The ampacity may correspond to individual wires of the wiring or the wiring collectively. In embodiments where the wiring includes one or more sets of wires, each wire of the set of wires may be electrically coupled to a monolithic conductor. The monolithic conductor may be disposed between the wiring and the motor. The monolithic conductor may be connected to the shade deployment assembly and/or electrically coupled to the motor. A second monolithic conductor may be connected to the bottom portion. The monolithic conductors may aggregate current carried by the wires of the wiring and deliver the current from the batteries to the motor. The monolithic conductor may include a strip and/or wire formed of copper. In embodiments where the monolithic conductor is a wire, the monolithic conductor may have a gauge equal to the combined gauge of the wiring.
Various specific embodiments of the general window coverings and window covering components described above are depicted in the appended FIGs. and described below regarding the appended FIGs.
