Covering for a simulated divided light architectural opening and systems for mounting same

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6571851
  • Patent Number
    6,571,851
  • Date Filed
    Friday, October 13, 2000
    24 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, June 3, 2003
    21 years ago
Abstract
Various embodiments of an architectural covering insert primarily adapted for use in simulated divided light openings is disclosed. The insert includes an outer framework with horizontal and vertical dividers, a plurality of horizontally or vertically disposed shade components associated with one or more dividers and control means for moving the shade components between extended and retracted positions across simulated openings defined by the vertical and horizontal dividers. The shade components can be of the roller shade type or collapsible cellular type with the net result being that, from a visual standpoint, there are shade components associated with each individual simulated opening defined by the horizontal and vertical dividers, as opposed to a single shade that covers the entire architectural opening.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




1. Field of the Invention




The present invention relates generally to coverings for architectural openings and, more particularly to an insert adapted to be placed in an architectural opening to simulate a divided light opening with the insert including a plurality of shade components to cover each simulated opening.




2. Description of the Relevant Art




Coverings for architectural openings have taken numerous forms for many years with early coverings simply consisting of fabric draped across the architectural opening in various aesthetic orientations. Draperies are another common form of covering wherein a fabric material is typically pleated along an upper marginal edge, and suspended along the top edge of an architectural opening and mounted so that the pleated material can be moved between an extended position across the architectural opening and a retracted position adjacent one or both sides of the architectural opening.




More recent coverings have taken the form of Venetian blinds wherein horizontal slats of material are suspended in spaced relationship in an architectural opening on tape ladders such that the slats can be elevated into a stacked relationship adjacent the top of the opening or suspended in uniformly spaced relationship across the architectural opening. The slats can further be rotated about their longitudinal axes to permit or block the passage of vision and light through the covering.




Similarly, vertical blinds have vertically oriented slats that operate very similarly to the horizontally oriented slats of a Venetian blind and, again, the vertically oriented slats can be evenly distributed across the opening or retracted adjacent to one or both sides of the opening. They further can be rotated about vertical axes to block or permit the passage of vision and light through the covering.




More contemporary shades have been referred to as cellular shades wherein adjacent interconnected cells are adapted to be extended across an architectural opening. The interconnected cells can also be collapsed or gathered adjacent the top or bottom of the architectural opening in a retracted position or wrapped around a roller in the retracted position. Some cellular products include horizontal or vertically extending vanes that can be manipulated to block or permit the passage of vision or light through the covering even when it is extended across the architectural opening.




Coverings of the aforenoted type are utilized in many types of architectural openings including windows, doors, archways and the like, and in the case of glass paneled architectural openings, it does not matter whether there is an opening with one large panel of glass or an opening with a plurality of individual smaller units of glass referred to as divided light openings.




In fact, large glass panels that may totally cover an architectural opening have been aesthetically divided into a plurality of smaller units by use of an insert having horizontal and vertical crisscrossing frame components that thereby define square or rectangular passages therethrough so that when the insert is positioned in overlying relationship with the large glass panel, the glass panel has the appearance of a plurality of smaller individual glass units. Such inserts have the advantage of being readily removable so that the larger glass panel can be easily cleaned. When an insert of this type is used, the opening is referred to as a simulated divided light opening.




The aforenoted coverings for architectural openings are typically designed to totally cover an entire architectural opening as opposed to individual smaller units within a divided light opening or a simulated divided light opening. It will be appreciated, however, that a totally different aesthetic look could be created with a covering for an architectural opening wherein each individual unit or various combinations of units defined in a simulated divided light opening had its own covering component.




An undesirable feature of prior art coverings for architectural openings resides in the fact that most of the coverings are operated by control cords which have been accepted for utilitarian purposes but are not necessarily aesthetically pleasing. A retractable architectural covering which did not require such cords would, therefore, be desirable.




It is further desirable in some environments to have a covering for an architectural opening which is retractably mounted for movement across the opening but which is totally hidden from view when in a retracted condition. In other words, in some environments, while it is desirable to have a covering that can be extended across an architectural opening to control vision and the passage of light, it may also be desirable that the covering be hidden from view when retracted so that an observer would not even realize the opening had a covering associated therewith.




It should also be appreciated that when moving a retractable covering between extended and retracted positions, which is typically accomplished with a pull or lift cord system, numerous pulling strokes by the operator of the covering may be required. In other words, to move a covering from a fully retracted to a fully extended position, an operator needs to apply several pulling strokes on the cord in order to obtain a full extension or retraction of the covering. Gearing could be provided to reduce the number of strokes necessary to fully move the covering between extended and retracted positions but the work required to move the covering is correspondingly increased. Accordingly, an improved system for extending and retracting coverings for architectural openings with a minimal stroke and no excessive work would be desirable.




It is to overcome the shortcomings in the prior art noted above that the present invention has been developed.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




The architectural covering of the present invention takes the form of a framed insert sized and configured to overlie an architectural opening. By way of example, if the architectural opening were a window, having a glass panel therein, the insert would fit within the confines of the window frame so as to define a simulated divided light window having the appearance of a window with a plurality of small individual glass panels. The insert itself has vertical and horizontal dividers or muntins that are surrounded by a peripheral framework and each horizontal or vertical divider might include one or more covering components so that each simulated individual panel or unit defined by the insert has the appearance of a covering component associated therewith.




The covering components could take numerous forms such as a cellular shade, Venetian blind, roll up shade or the like. Accordingly, the covering components may be alternately referred to as shade components. The division of the covering for the architectural opening into a plurality of component units to cover one or more simulated panels in the architectural opening provides not only a unique appearance for an architectural covering but also a unique mechanism for unitarily operating each covering component simultaneously.




In accordance with the present invention, behind a vertical or horizontal divider or muntin in the insert, a roll-up or stacking mechanism is provided so as to be substantially invisible to someone within the building structure in which the insert is mounted. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, a simple manually operable slide is positioned along the framework for the insert so that movement of the slide in one direction causes the individual covering components to selectively extend across a simulated panel or panels to which they are associated and a sliding movement of the operable slide in the opposite direction causes the covering components to retract into a hidden position behind the horizontal or vertical divider.




It will be appreciated from the detailed description that follows that a covering in accordance with the present invention is designed to have at least first and second parallel but separated support elements on which retractable coverings are mounted. A drive mechanism is coupled to at least one of the support elements in a manner such that the plurality of coverings are operated from a single drive mechanism.




It will further be appreciated from the description that follows that the architectural covering is hidden when retracted and the drive mechanism for operating the covering is also substantially hidden so that an observer is virtually unaware that a covering exists when the covering is fully retracted.




Another feature of the present invention which will become apparent with the detailed description that follows resides in the fact that the operating system or drive mechanism for moving the covering between extended and retracted positions entails a mechanism that requires a very short stroke to fully move the covering between extended and retracted positions and without any additional effort than required for conventional architectural coverings.




Other aspects, features and details of the present invention can be more completely understood by reference to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments, taken in conjunction with the drawings and from the appended claims.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS





FIG. 1

is a front isometric of an insert for a simulated divided light window in accordance with the present invention and with the covering component associated with the insert in a retracted position.





FIG. 2

is an isometric similar to

FIG. 1

with the covering components in a partially extended position.





FIG. 3

is an isometric similar to

FIG. 1

with the shades in a fully extended position.





FIG. 4

is a left side elevation of the insert shown in FIG.


1


.





FIG. 5

is a front elevation of the insert shown in FIG.


1


.





FIG. 6

is an enlarged section taken along line


6





6


of FIG.


5


.





FIG. 7

is an enlarged section taken along line


7





7


of FIG.


5


.





FIG. 8

is an enlarged section with parts removed taken long line


8





8


of FIG.


5


.





FIG. 9

is an enlarged section with parts removed taken along line


9





9


of FIG.


5


.





FIG. 10

is an enlarged section taken along line


10





10


of FIG.


4


.





FIG. 11

is an enlarged section with parts removed taken along line


11





11


of FIG.


5


.





FIG. 12

is an enlarged section with parts removed taken along line


12





12


of FIG.


5


.





FIG. 13

is a fragmentary enlarged section taken along line


13





13


of FIG.


12


.





FIG. 13A

is a fragmentary vertical section illustrating the mounting of the left end of a shade roll to its supporting bracket.





FIG. 13B

is a view similar to

FIG. 13A

showing the roll rotatably supported by the bracket.





FIG. 14

is a section taken along line


14





14


of FIG.


13


.





FIG. 15

is an exploded isometric showing the roller for a shade utilized in the insert illustrated in FIG.


1


.





FIG. 16

is an isometric with parts removed illustrating assembled rollers used in the insert of

FIG. 1

with a beaded drive chain associated therewith.





FIG. 17

is an end view of the left vertical frame member of the insert shown in FIG.


1


.





FIG. 18

is a view similar to

FIG. 17

showing an alternative arrangement of the left vertical frame member.





FIG. 19

is an end view of the right vertical frame member used in the insert of FIG.


1


.





FIG. 19A

is a view similar to

FIG. 19

showing an alternative arrangement of the right vertical frame member of the insert of FIG.


1


.





FIG. 20

is a view similar to

FIG. 14

illustrating an alternative drive system utilizing a timing belt instead of a beaded chain.





FIG. 21

is an isometric front view similar to

FIG. 2

showing an alternative arrangement wherein the covering components are in the form of cellular shades.





FIG. 22A

is an enlarged vertical section taken along line


22


A—


22


A of FIG.


21


.





FIG. 22B

is a vertical section taken along line


22


B—


22


B of FIG.


21


.





FIG. 22C

is a vertical section similar to

FIG. 22B

with the shade components being fully retracted.





FIG. 22D

is a vertical section similar to

FIG. 22B

with the shade components being fully extended.





FIG. 23

is a rear diagrammatic elevation of the insert shown in

FIG. 21

showing the control cord system for moving the shade between extended and retracted positions.





FIG. 23A

is a rear diagrammatic elevation similar to

FIG. 23

showing an alternative routing of the control cord.





FIG. 24

is a rear diagrammatic elevation similar to

FIG. 22

showing still another alternative cord control arrangement.





FIG. 24A

is a vertical section similar to

FIG. 22A

but associated with the embodiment of the invention shown in FIG.


24


.





FIG. 24B

is a rear diagrammatic elevation similar to

FIG. 24

showing still another routing of the control cord.





FIG. 25

is a vertical section through a shade similar to that shown in

FIG. 21

showing an alternative system for moving the shade components between extended and retracted positions.





FIG. 26

is a vertical section similar to

FIG. 25

showing the driving component for moving the shade components shown in

FIG. 25

between extended and retracted positions.





FIG. 27

is a fragmentary front isometric showing an alternative covering in accordance with the present invention.





FIG. 28

is a fragmentary isometric similar to

FIG. 27

with covering components in a different position.





FIG. 29

is an enlarged section taken along line


29





29


of FIG.


27


.





FIG. 30

is an enlarged section taken along line


30





30


of FIG.


27


.





FIG. 31

is an enlarged section with parts removed taken along line


31





31


of FIG.


27


.





FIG. 32

is a fragmentary section similar to that shown in

FIG. 30

showing an alternative arrangement for the covering illustrated in FIG.


30


.





FIG. 33

is a fragmentary vertical section similar to

FIG. 32

showing the covering components in a different position.





FIG. 34

is an enlarged section taken along line


34





34


of FIG.


29


.





FIG. 35

is a diagrammatic vertical section showing still another embodiment of a covering in accordance with the present invention wherein the covering components are double wrapped on rollers.





FIG. 36

is an enlarged vertical section taken through a single roller of the covering of FIG.


35


.





FIG. 37

is a view similar to

FIG. 36

with the covering components partially unrolled from the roller.





FIG. 38

is an isometric showing the shade of

FIG. 35

with the rollers and covering components in the position shown in FIG.


36


.





FIG. 39

is an isometric similar to

FIG. 38

with the covering components shown in the position of

FIGS. 35 and 37

.





FIG. 40

is a rear elevation of the covering that is diagrammatically illustrated in

FIG. 35

showing a control system for moving the covering components.





FIG. 41

is a fragmentary vertical section taken through a covering in accordance with the present invention wherein back-to-back systems are employed.





FIG. 42

is a vertical section taken through a pair of adjacent rollers in the system illustrated in

FIG. 41

with the covering components coming off the same side of adjacent rollers.





FIG. 43

is a vertical section similar to

FIG. 42

showing the covering components coming off opposite sides of adjacent rollers.





FIG. 44

is a fragmentary front elevation of a covering in accordance with the present invention that incorporates fabrics that may have different properties.





FIG. 45

is a diagrammatic vertical section taken through the covering of FIG.


44


.





FIG. 46

is a diagrammatic front elevation of another embodiment of the present invention wherein a control cord extends covering components from their associated rollers and a belt system retracts the covering components onto the associated rollers.





FIG. 47

is a fragmentary section taken through the covering of FIG.


46


.





FIG. 48

is a fragmentary rear elevation showing an alternative drive system for rotating rollers in a covering of the type disclosed in FIG.


1


.





FIG. 49

is a diagrammatic section taken through the covering shown in FIG.


48


.





FIG. 50

is a fragmentary front elevation showing still another embodiment of a covering in accordance with the present invention wherein vertically aligned rollers with covering components thereon cannot only be extended and retracted but the rollers with the covering material thereon can be stacked adjacent the top of the covering.





FIG. 51

is a fragmentary vertical section taken through the covering shown in FIG.


50


.





FIG. 52

is a diagrammatic front elevation of another embodiment of a covering in accordance with the present invention showing a different control system for moving the covering components between extended and retracted positions.





FIG. 53

is a vertical section taken through the covering of FIG.


52


.





FIG. 54

is a horizontal section taken through the covering of FIG.


52


.





FIG. 55

is a front isometric view of still another embodiment of the present invention with a plurality of collapsible shades shown mounted in a divided window frame in a partially extended position.





FIG. 56

is an isometric view looking at the rear of the covering shown in

FIG. 55

with one of the shade components having been removed.





FIG. 57

is an isometric looking at the rear of the frame portion of the covering shown in FIG.


55


.





FIG. 58

is an enlarged fragmentary vertical section taken along line


58





58


of FIG.


56


.





FIG. 59

is a fragmentary vertical section similar to

FIG. 58

with the collapsible shade in a fully retracted position.





FIG. 60

is a section similar to

FIG. 58

with the retractable shade in a fully extended position.





FIG. 61

is an enlarged fragmentary rear elevation of the covering as shown in FIG.


56


.





FIG. 62

is an enlarged fragmentary rear elevation of the upper right-hand corner of the covering as shown in FIG.


56


.





FIG. 63

is an enlarged fragmentary rear elevation showing a bottom rail of a shade component connected in the right frame member of the covering as shown in FIG.


56


.





FIG. 64

is an enlarged fragmentary rear elevation showing the top rail of a shade component (other than the uppermost shade component) connected in the right frame member of the frame as shown in FIG.


66


.





FIG. 65

is an enlarged fragmentary rear elevation of the bottom right-hand corner of the covering as shown in FIG.


56


.





FIG. 66

is an enlarged fragmentary section taken along line


66





66


of FIG.


62


.





FIG. 67

is a fragmentary section taken along line


67





67


of FIG.


66


.





FIG. 68

is a fragmentary section taken along line


68





68


of FIG.


67


.





FIG. 69

is a fragmentary section taken along line


69





69


of FIG.


67


.





FIG. 70

is an enlarged fragmentary section taken along line


70





70


of FIG.


64


.





FIG. 71

is a fragmentary section taken along line


71





71


of FIG.


70


.





FIG. 72

is an enlarged fragmentary section taken along line


72





72


of FIG.


63


.





FIG. 72A

is an enlarged fragmentary section taken along line


72


A—


72


A of FIG.


55


.





FIG. 73

is a fragmentary section taken along line


73





73


of FIG.


72


.





FIG. 74

is a fragmentary section taken along line


74





74


of FIG.


73


.





FIG. 75

is a fragmentary section taken along line


75





75


of FIG.


73


.





FIG. 76

is a fragmentary section similar to

FIG. 75

showing a splice location for the endless transfer belt utilized in the covering of FIG.


55


.





FIG. 77

is an enlarged fragmentary section taken along line


77





77


of FIG.


65


.





FIG. 78

is a fragmentary section taken along line.


78





78


of FIG.


77


.





FIG. 79

is a section taken along line


79





79


of FIG.


78


.





FIG. 80

is a fragmentary section taken along line


80





80


of FIG.


78


.





FIG. 81

is an isometric view of a roller used at the top and bottom ends of the transfer belt in the left and right side frame members.





FIG. 82

is an isometric of the rear side of the male bracket member used to releasably mount one end of the top rail of the uppermost shade component in the covering of FIG.


55


.





FIG. 83

is a front isometric view of the bracket shown in FIG.


82


.





FIG. 84

is a rear isometric view of the female bracket used to mount the top rail of the uppermost shade component and to mount the transfer rod at the bottom of the covering shown in FIG.


55


.





FIG. 85

is an isometric view of the anchor block used to secure the timing belt to a slide bracket used in connecting a bottom rail to the side frame members in the covering of FIG.


55


.





FIG. 86

is a rear isometric view of the female component of the slide bracket used to mount the bottom rail in the side frame members of the covering of FIG.


55


.





FIG. 86A

is an isometric of a variation of the component illustrated in FIG.


86


.





FIG. 86B

is an isometric of the front of a male component used with the female component shown in

FIG. 84

at the bottom of the frame to mount the transfer rod.





FIG. 86C

is an isometric of the rear of the component shown in FIG.


86


B.





FIG. 87

is a front isometric of the male component of the slide bracket used to connect the bottom rails to a side frame member.





FIG. 88

is a fragmentary isometric view of the end of a top rail with an end cap shown in exploded relation thereto.





FIG. 89

is an isometric view of the end cap shown in FIG.


88


.





FIG. 90

is a fragmentary end elevation of the top rail as shown in FIG.


88


.





FIG. 91

is a side elevation of the end cap shown in FIG.


89


.





FIG. 92

is an end elevation of the end cap shown in FIG.


89


.





FIG. 93

is an isometric view of a further embodiment of the architectural covering of the present invention.





FIG. 94

is an enlarged fragmentary rear elevation of the covering shown in FIG.


93


.





FIG. 95

is an enlarged section taken along line


95





95


of FIG.


94


.





FIG. 96

is a section similar to

FIG. 95

with the shade components shown in a fully extended position.





FIG. 97

is a section similar to

FIG. 95

with the shade component in a fully retracted position.





FIG. 98

is a fragmentary isometric showing one end of an end cap and dust cover for a roller used in the covering shown in FIG.


93


.





FIG. 99

is a fragmentary isometric similar to

FIG. 98

with the end cap exploded from the plate portion of the dust cover and with the roller shown in dashed lines.





FIG. 99A

is a fragmentary isometric showing the end of a bottom rail with an end rap thereon.





FIG. 99B

is an exploded fragmentary isometric corresponding with FIG.


99


A.





FIG. 100

is a fragmentary longitudinal section taken through a roller on which a flexible curtain is wrapped with the roller being shown in a neutral position.





FIG. 101

is a fragmentary section taken along line


101





101


of

FIG. 96

with the roller in a shortened condition which it assumes when mounted in the frame of the covering of FIG.


93


.





FIG. 102

is an enlarged section taken along line


102





102


of FIG.


100


.





FIG. 103

is an enlarged section taken along line


103





103


of FIG.


100


.





FIG. 104

is an enlarged section taken along line


104





104


of FIG.


100


.





FIG. 105

is an enlarged fragmentary rear elevation of the upper right-hand corner of the covering as viewed in FIG.


94


.





FIG. 106

is an enlarged fragmentary rear elevation of a portion of the rear of the covering as shown in

FIG. 94

showing a slide bracket used in the covering.





FIG. 107

is a section taken along line


107





107


of FIG.


111


.





FIG. 108

is a fragmentary enlarged section taken along line


108





108


of FIG.


105


.





FIG. 109

is a fragmentary section taken along line


109





109


of FIG.


108


.





FIG. 110

is a fragmentary section taken along line


110





110


of FIG.


108


.





FIG. 111

is a fragmentary rear elevation showing a fixed bracket associated with the top roller of a shade component other than the uppermost shade component.





FIG. 112

is a fragmentary rear elevation showing the lowermost bracket used for supporting the transfer rod of the covering of FIG.


93


.





FIG. 113

is a horizontal section taken through a slide bracket utilized to mount the bottom rail of each shade component.





FIG. 114

is a section taken along line


114





114


of FIG.


113


.





FIG. 115

is a section taken along line


115





115


of FIG.


112


.





FIG. 116

is a section taken along line


116





116


of FIG.


115


.





FIG. 117

is an enlarged section taken along line


117





117


of FIG.


93


.





FIG. 118

is a section taken along line


118





118


of FIG.


117


.





FIG. 119

is a fragmentary isometric looking downwardly at the center of the transfer rod used at the bottom of the covering shown in FIG.


93


.





FIG. 120

is a section taken along line


120





120


of FIG.


119


.





FIG. 121

is a section taken along line


121





121


of FIG.


120


.





FIG. 122

is a fragmentary section taken along line


122





122


of FIG.


120


.





FIG. 123

is an isometric view of the male component of the slide bracket associated with the center shade component having a system for connecting a slide finger thereto.





FIG. 124

is an isometric view of the rear of the base component of the slide finger.





FIG. 125

is a front isometric of the base component of the slide finger.





FIG. 126

is an isometric of the front of the pivot plate of the slide finger.





FIG. 127

is an isometric of the rear of the pivot plate of the slide finger.





FIG. 128

is a rear isometric of the top bracket used to mount the roller for the uppermost shade component.





FIG. 129

is an isometric looking downwardly at the bracket illustrated in FIG.


128


.





FIG. 129A

is an isometric of a bracket used to mount to the frame members the roller of each shade component except the uppermost shade component.





FIG. 130

is an isometric view of connector component of the slide bracket used in the covering shown in FIG.


93


.





FIG. 131

is an isometric view of one side of the anchor block used in the slide bracket.





FIG. 131A

is an isometric view of the rear side of the anchor block used in the slide bracket.





FIG. 132

is an isometric view of the base component of the slide bracket.





FIG. 133

is an isometric view looking downwardly on the bottom bracket used to support the transfer rod of the covering shown in FIG.


93


.





FIG. 134

is an isometric looking upwardly at the bottom of the bracket shown in FIG.


133


.





FIG. 135

is an isometric view of a shaft component used in the transfer bar of the covering of FIG.


93


.





FIG. 136

is an isometric of a sleeve component of the transfer rod used in the covering of FIG.


93


.











DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT




Referring first to

FIGS. 1-3

, an insert covering


60


for an architectural opening (not shown) is illustrated. The insert-type covering is adapted to cooperate with an architectural opening such as a window, so as to convert the aesthetics of the window from a single pane picture window to a simulated divided light window. Depending upon architectural desires, windows found in building structures may have single panes of undivided glass or the windows may be divided light windows wherein a plurality of muntins or dividers separate a plurality of smaller panels of glass. The muntins are typically vertical and horizontal dividers which support glass panels within the quadrangular openings defined by the muntins. More recently, simulated divided light windows have become popular with these windows being formed with a single large pane of glass and a framed insert having peripheral frame members along the edges of the large pane and muntins or cross frame members interconnecting opposed peripheral frame members placed against the internal face of the glass so as to simulate a divided light window. In other words, the window opening appears to have a plurality of smaller glass panels but in reality it is one large glass panel. Such systems are desirable for cleaning purposes as the insert can be removed so that one large panel of glass can be cleaned in a quicker and more efficient manner than the plurality of smaller independent panels found in divided light windows. The expense of a simulated divided light window is also less than a real divided light window.




While the present invention will be described in connection with a window type architectural opening, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that it is applicable to other types of architectural openings such as doorways where, for example, the invention would be mounted on a door.




The present invention incorporates a retractable covering or shade component into a simulated divided light window system and does so by incorporating retractable shade or curtain panels into an insert of the type that can be positioned adjacent to the inner face of a glass pane.




The insert thereby forms a simulated divided light window while providing retractable shades or coverings for the window.




As seen in

FIGS. 1-3

, the insert


60


of the present invention includes an outer or peripheral framework


61


having left and right vertical frame members


62


and


64


, respectively, and upper and lower horizontal frame members


66


and


68


, respectively, which are mitered at their corners to form a continuous peripheral outer frame for the insert. Vertical and horizontal cross frame members, muntins or dividers


70


and


72


, respectively, are positioned within the space defined by the outer peripheral frame thereby dividing the larger opening of the peripheral frame into smaller quadrangular openings


74


. In the illustrated embodiment, there are two vertical dividers


70


and two horizontal dividers


72


so as to define nine openings or units


74


that will simulate smaller glass panels of a window opening when placed in a window opening. In accordance with the present invention, retractable shade components


76


are positioned behind the horizontal dividers


72


and also the upper horizontal frame member


66


of the peripheral frame so that in a retracted position, the shade components are hidden from view as illustrated in FIG.


1


and are mounted along spaced parallel paths. The shade components


76


are shown partially extended in a downward direction in FIG.


2


. Full extension of the shade components is illustrated in FIG.


3


. It will be appreciated that each shade component is capable of vertical extension and retraction across the space defined between adjacent horizontal dividers


72


. The covering insert has the appearance of having a separate shade component for each divided opening


74


in the insert even though in reality, in the embodiment illustrated, there are only three shade components, with each shade component or covering being associated with three horizontally adjacent openings


74


in the insert. A control system, which will be defined hereafter, for moving the shade components between the retracted position of FIG.


1


and the extended position of

FIG. 3

is operated by a finger slide


78


that in the illustrated embodiment is positioned in the right hand vertical frame member


64


so as to be substantially unnoticeable.




It should also be pointed out that while various embodiments of the present invention will be described hereafter, in many of these embodiments, the shade components


76


can be made to move vertically as illustrated in

FIGS. 1-5

or horizontally with the shade components mounted behind vertical dividers


70


as opposed to the horizontal dividers


72


as shown in

FIGS. 1-5

. In either event, the shade components are substantially hidden from view when retracted.




Also, while the shade components described are associated with a plurality of side-by-side openings


74


in the insert, separate shade components


76


could be utilized in association with each opening


74


in the insert as would be apparent to one skilled in the art.




Referring next to

FIGS. 17 and 19

, preferred embodiments are shown for the left and right vertical frame members


62


and


64


, respectively.

FIG. 17

illustrates the left vertical frame member


62


and it can be seen to be of generally L-shaped cross-section having a vertical leg


80


and a horizontal leg


82


. The vertical leg has a pair of spaced notches


84


formed therein. The vertical leg in reality extends from the front of the peripheral frame


61


defined by the horizontal leg


82


, rearwardly toward a glass panel (not shown) as might be found in a window opening. The notch


84


formed in the upper end of the vertical leg, which would be adjacent to the window pane, receives an edge of an elongated bracket member


86


that is adapted to support one end of rollers


88


(

FIG. 15

) forming part of each shade component


76


. The elongated bracket member


86


is generally T-shaped in cross-section with the main body


90


of the T-shaped bracket being flexible and having a tapered lower end


92


to facilitate guiding movement of one end of a roller for a shade component. The T-shaped bracket can be adhesively secured or otherwise rigidly bonded to the left vertical frame member


62


so that the bracket is suitably mounted for supporting a plurality of rollers along the length of the left vertical frame member in a manner to be described later.




Referring to

FIG. 19

, the right vertical frame member


64


is illustrated and is shown to be a mirror image of the left vertical frame member. An inverted U-shaped bracket


94


is mounted on the right vertical frame member for receiving and supporting the opposite or right end of the rollers


88


of the shade component with the elongated inverted U-shaped bracket having a pair of protruding ribs


96


that are received in the notches


84


in the vertical leg


80


of the bracket and are secured therein in any suitable manner such as with adhesive, ultrasonic bonding, heat welding or the like. It will be appreciated that both the left and right brackets for supporting the rollers extend the full length of the associated left and right frame members and thus the full height of the insert. They are also hidden from view when seen from the interior of the building structure in which the insert is mounted by the horizontal leg


82


of the left and right side vertical frame members as illustrated in

FIGS. 17 and 19

. The upper and lower frame members


66


and


68


, respectively, of the peripheral frame can take on any suitable form including the form illustrated in

FIGS. 17 and 19

for the vertical frame members, but mounting brackets for the rollers are not secured to the upper and lower frame members and, accordingly, their design is not as critical.





FIG. 18

illustrates an alternative embodiment


97


for the elongated bracket that is mounted in the left vertical frame member, with this bracket being very similar to the inverted U-shaped bracket


94


shown in

FIG. 19

except that the innermost leg


99


of the bracket is shaped like the main body of the T-shaped bracket


86


illustrated in FIG.


17


. In other words, the bracket


97


has one outer leg


101


with ribs


103


that are received in the notches


84


in the left vertical frame member and are anchored therein in any suitable manner such as with adhesive, ultrasonic bonding, heat welding or the like. The other leg


99


of the bracket is flexible and has a tapered lower end so that one end of a roller


88


, as will be appreciated with the description that follows, can be easily and removably connected to the bracket.





FIG. 19A

shows an integrated embodiment of the vertical frame members. As will be appreciated, in the integrated embodiment


105


of the vertical frame members, the vertical


107


and horizontal


109


legs are substantially identical even though notches


111


in the vertical leg are placed at different locations. In addition to the vertical and horizontal legs, an upstanding rib


113


extends parallel to the vertical leg


107


in spaced relationship therewith so as to define a channel


115


therebetween. The channel therebetween is very similar to the channel defined in the inverted U-shaped bracket


94


described previously in connection with FIG.


19


. The vertical leg


107


and the parallel rib


113


are each appropriately notched and deformed so that they accommodate the various needs described previously in connection with the left and right vertical frame members and needs that will become more apparent with the description that follows.




The rollers


88


of the individual shade components


76


are probably best seen in

FIG. 15

to include a cylindrical main body


98


, a male plug


100


at one end and a female plug


102


at the opposite end, with the female plug being adapted to releasably axially receive a drive shaft


104


that supports on its distal end a dual spur gear


106


. The cylindrical main body can be made of any suitable material but preferably a light weight but structurally strong material, such as plastic. The male plug has a main body


108


adapted to be tightly received in the associated open end of the cylindrical main body


98


so as to move in unison therewith. The male plug includes a reduced diameter hemispherical protrusion


110


that cooperates with the mounting bracket


86


on the left vertical frame member, as will be described later. The female plug has a disk-like outer end


112


with a hexagonal opening


114


therethrough and three axially extending somewhat rigid resilient legs


116


adapted to be inserted into the associated open end of the cylindrical main body


98


. The resilient legs are spaced and dimensioned so as to form a tight fit within the cylindrical main body. The female plug is releasably retained in place such that it, too, will move in unison with the cylindrical main body


98


. The drive shaft


104


has a central body portion


118


of hexagonal configuration and also has three axially protruding somewhat rigid flexible legs


120


. The main component of the central body portion


118


has a hollow hexagonal interior


122


. The three flexible legs


120


of the drive shaft are adapted to frictionally engage and grip interior surfaces of the legs


116


of the female plug so that the drive shaft rotates with the plug and with the main cylindrical body


98


of the roller. The dual spur gear is an integral unit defining a separate but integrated spur gear


124


at each axial end thereof with the spur gears being spaced by a channel


126


of concave cylindrical cross-sectional configuration. The dual spur gear has a hexagonal passage


124


therethrough sized and configured to receive the drive shaft so that the dual spur gear rotates with the drive shaft and the cylindrical main body of the roller.




Referring to

FIGS. 13A and 13B

, the male plug


100


at the end of a roller


88


is shown being moved into operative relationship with the support bracket


86


in the left vertical frame member. The main body


90


of the T-shaped bracket has vertically aligned holes


126


therethrough at periodic intervals along the length of the bracket but at a minimum at locations where the horizontal muntins or dividers


72


are located. The hemispherical protrusion


110


of the male plug is engaged with the tapered lower end


92


of the main body of the T-shaped bracket and slid therealong until it is releasably seated in a desired hole


126


, as seen in FIG.


13


B. With the male plug received in the hole, it is supported for rotatable movement about the longitudinal axis of the cylindrical main body


98


. It will be appreciated also that the roller is spatially fixed in position relative to the remainder of the insert


60


so that it is hidden behind an associated horizontal divider


72


.




With reference to

FIG. 13

, the end of the roller


88


that carriers the dual spur gear


106


is operatively mounted in the inverted U-shaped bracket


94


of the right vertical frame member


64


. The dual spur gears are disposed within a channel


128


defined by the inverted U-shaped bracket. A plurality of horizontal passages or aligned holes


130


are provided through the legs of the U-shaped bracket to receive the drive shaft


104


so as to support the drive shaft at a fixed location behind a horizontal divider


72


of the insert. The passages


130


through the legs of the inverted U-shaped bracket are provided at fixed intervals along the length of the bracket but at a minimum at locations aligned with a horizontal divider


72


so that the roller supported thereby is horizontally aligned with a horizontal divider and supported at opposite ends for rotational movement about its longitudinal axis. The passages


130


are sufficiently larger in diameter than the drive shaft


104


so that the roller can be tilted for insertion into the T-shaped bracket


86


after having been positioned at the opposite end in the inverted U-shaped bracket


94


.




As probably best seen in

FIGS. 7 and 9

, each roller


88


has wrapped therearound a sheet or curtain of flexible fabric material


132


such as might be used in a conventional window shade with one edge of the material being secured to the roller. The sheet material could be embossed with a pattern, could be a sheer, or an opaque material or any other desirable but flexible material. The length of the material is sufficient to bridge the gap between adjacent horizontal dividers


72


or a horizontal divider and the upper or lower frame member


66


. The width of the sheet material is substantially coincident with the length of the main body


98


of the roller. The rollers for each shade component


76


are selectively rotated about their longitudinal horizontal axes by a beaded chain


134


, which is probably best seen in FIG.


16


. The beaded chain includes a plurality of flexibly interconnected beads


136


having diametrically extending pins


138


therefrom which extend in a horizontal direction. The pins are adapted to be received in the radial grooves of the individual spur gears


124


of the dual pinion gear, with the beads being adapted to be received within the concave cylindrical channel


126


between the pinion gears. In this manner, as the beaded chain passes by a roller


88


, the roller is caused to be rotated in a preselected direction by the engagement of the diametrically extending pins with the associated pinion gears. Of course, depending upon the direction of movement of the beaded chain, the rollers can be caused to be rotated in either direction.




As mentioned previously, the shade components


76


in the preferred embodiment are operated by a drive member in the form of a finger slide


78


that is disposed in a slot


140


in the right frame member


64


and the slide as illustrated in

FIG. 14

is of generally T-shaped cross-section, having a protruding body segment


142


that extends through the horizontal leg


82


of the right vertical frame member and slides easily within the elongated slot formed in the right frame member. The inner end


144


of the finger slide has a cylindrical blind hole


146


formed therein and is also scalloped in a manner to conformably receive the beads


136


of the beaded chain. A closure cap


148


, which also has a scalloped face, is placed in confronting relationship with the inner end of the finger slide and the closure cap has a cylindrical pin


150


protruding therefrom adapted to be received in the blind hole


146


so that opposite ends of the beaded chain are captured between the protruding body segment


142


and the closure cap


148


. The closure cap is secured to the protruding body segment in any suitable manner, such as with adhesive, ultrasonic bonding, heat fusion or the like. The beaded chain thereby effectively becomes an endless beaded chain and, again as best seen in

FIG. 16

, passes in a vertical loop within the right frame member


64


. At the upper and lower ends of the loop, the beaded chain passes around the dual spur gear


106


of the uppermost and lowermost rollers but in-between the uppermost and lowermost rollers, the beaded chain merely engages the dual spur gears of the remaining rollers


88


as it passes thereby. It can be appreciated by reference to

FIG. 13

, that the beaded chain is confined within the inverted U-shaped bracket


94


so that it remains in operative engagement with the respective dual spur gears as it passes thereby or therearound.




It can be appreciated from the above that as the finger slide


78


is moved vertically up and down in the guide slot, the roller members


88


supporting the shade components


76


are rotated in one direction or another about their longitudinal axes. Of course, rotation of the rollers in one direction causes the sheet material


132


to be unwound from their associated rollers, while rotation in the opposite direction causes the sheet material to be wound around their associated rollers. To assure that the sheet material or shades drop vertically downwardly as they are unrolled from their associated rollers, a weighted bar


152


, as best seen in

FIG. 2

, could be secured to the free edge of the shade material so that as the shade material is unwound, gravity pulls the free edge thereof downwardly.




It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the finger slide


78


could be replaced with various pull cord or bead manipulated systems and the finger slide is only shown as illustrative of a means for moving the drive beads and cords deployed within the framework




It should also be appreciated that a relatively short stroke of the finger slide affects an entire extension or retraction of the shade components and a complete coverage or non-coverage of the architectural opening in which the covering is mounted. In other words, due to the fact that there are a plurality of shade components each being operative to cover only a portion of the architectural opening and the plurality of components are simultaneously operated with a single slide, a relatively small stroke of the finger slide is operative to move each shade component across its portion of the opening so that in combination the plurality of shade components completely cover the architectural opening.




If you assume a one-for-one movement of the covering through manipulation of the finger slide


78


, and if there are three shade components associated with one architectural opening, then a full extension or retraction of the covering across the entire architectural opening can be accomplished with a stroke of only a third of the height of the architectural opening. This is to be contrasted with conventional cord operated systems wherein the cord needs to be pulled a substantial distance, typically the entire height of the architectural opening, in order to extend the associated shade component fully thereacross from its fully retracted position.




It will, therefore, be appreciated that with the present invention, a very short and simple stroke of the finger slide accomplishes a complete extension or retraction of the covering components across the architectural opening with no more work than is required to lift a conventional window shade. While the stroke of a conventional window covering might be shortened by adding gearing to the control system, there would be additional work required to operate the system in order to achieve this result.




Looking next at

FIG. 20

, an alternative drive system is illustrated to that discussed previously in connection with

FIGS. 1-19

and wherein like parts have been given like reference numerals with a prime suffix. In this arrangement, the right frame member


64


′ is again provided with a slot


140


′ in which is slidably disposed a finger slide


78


′. Instead of securing a beaded chain to the finger slide with a closure cap, a flexible timing belt


154


having gear teeth along one face is secured to the finger slide


78


′ in the same manner as the beaded chain. Instead of the dual spur gear as described previously, a toothed gear wheel


156


is provided on the drive shaft of each roller so that the toothed gear wheel is drivingly engaged with the timing belt. The operation of the covering would otherwise be identical.





FIGS. 21

,


22


A-


22


D and


23


illustrate a variation of the insert covering wherein a collapsible shade or curtain


158


is utilized as opposed to a roll-up shade. The collapsible shade or curtain is illustrated a cellular shade even though other collapsible shades such as pleated shades could be used. The cellular shade has a plurality of horizontally extending but vertically aligned and interconnected cells


160


of hexagonal cross-section which can be expanded as illustrated in

FIG. 22D

into a fully extended condition or retracted as illustrated in

FIG. 22C

with the cells completely collapsed and stacked adjacent to each other. Cellular shades of this type are well known in the art and a detailed description thereof is not deemed necessary to an understanding of the present invention.




In this embodiment, an outer or peripheral frame


162


again supports vertical and horizontal cross-frame members, dividers or muntins


164


and


166


, respectively, and a drive member in the form of a finger slide


168


is again provided in a vertical slot


170


in a right frame member


172


for operating the shade components of the insert. In this embodiment, the horizontal dividers


166


have rearwardly projecting horizontal plate-like ledges


174


that support from their undersurface an associated collapsible shade component


158


. The shade component can be secured to the horizontal plate-like ledges with adhesive or in any other suitable manner. Each shade component further includes a bottom rail


176


that is weighted and a plurality of vertically aligned openings (not seen) through each end of the shade component.




As best seen in

FIG. 23

, to operate this embodiment of the covering, a pair of cords


178


and


180


are connected to the upper end of the finger slide


168


, with one cord


178


extending upwardly around a first idler pulley


182


at the right side of the insert and then downwardly through the aligned openings in the shade components along their right side. The cord is knotted or otherwise secured beneath the bottom rail


176


of each shade component as it passes therethrough so that when the cord is lifted, the bottom rail of each component is simultaneously lifted thereby collapsing the associated shade component therewith. The second cord


180


extends from the finger slide upwardly around a second idler pulley


184


at the top of the right frame member and subsequently across the upper frame member before passing around an idler pulley


186


at the top of the left vertical frame member and then downwardly through the aligned openings in the shade components on the left side of the insert. The cord


180


is also secured beneath each bottom rail


76


so that as the cord is lifted, the bottom rail lifts the associated shade component thereby collapsing the shade component adjacent to the under surface of the horizontal ledge


174


of each horizontal divider


166


. It will be appreciated that movement of the finger slide causes each end of the bottom rails to move uniformly so that the shades are raised and lowered in unison and in a precise horizontal orientation.




As will be appreciated from the above system, movement of the finger slide downwardly causes the shade components to move upwardly but to reverse that motion so that downward movement of the finger slide causes a downward movement of the shade components, an extra pair of rollers could be provided in the left vertical frame member as shown in

FIG. 23A

so that the first cord


178


before passing upwardly around the pulley


182


would pass downwardly around the first one


188


of a pair of pulleys. Similarly, the second cord


180


before passing upwardly around the pulley


184


would pass downwardly around the second


190


of the pair of pulleys. It will be appreciated with this arrangement of the cords, that the aforedescribed movement of the shade components relative to the finger slide is accomplished.




Another embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in

FIGS. 24 and 24A

with, again, the insert including an outer framework


200


with left and right vertical side frame members


202


and


204


, respectively, and upper and lower frame members


206


and


208


, respectively, along with vertical and horizontal dividers


210


and


212


, respectively. In this embodiment, the shade components


214


are, again, cellular shades as illustrated in FIGS.


21


and


22


A-


22


D, but the control system for moving the shade components between extended and retracted positions is slightly different. In the embodiment of

FIGS. 24 and 24A

, a finger slide


216


is again provided, but two endless cords


218


and


220


are secured to the finger slide. As possibly best seen in

FIG. 24

, a first cord


218


extends upwardly from the finger slide and around a first upper idler pulley


222


and then downwardly through aligned openings in the left side of each shade component. Again, the cord is secured to the bottom rail


224


of each successive shade components so that movement of the cord causes the shade components to move correspondingly. The cord


218


passes through the lowermost shade component and subsequently around a first lower idler pulley


226


that is vertically aligned with the first upper idler pulley


222


before the cord is returned and anchored at its opposite end to the underside of the finger slide thereby forming a first endless loop at one side of the insert. The second cord


220


has one end secured to the upperside of the finger slide and passes upwardly around a second upper idler pulley


228


that is vertically spaced above the first upper idler pulley


222


, and the cord then extends horizontally across the top of the insert before passing around a horizontally aligned third upper idler pulley


230


and then downwardly through aligned openings in the right side of the shade components, with the cord again being secured to the bottom rail of each shade component. The cord extends through the lowermost shade component and subsequently around a second lower idler pulley


232


that is vertically aligned with the third upper idler pulley


230


and then horizontally across the base of the insert before passing around a third lower idler pulley


234


that is vertically aligned with the first lower idler pulley


226


so that the cord can then extend upwardly and have its opposite end secured to the underside of the finger slide. It will, therefore, be appreciated that two endless loops of drive cord are secured to the finger slide and are operatively connected to the bottom rails of each shade component so that movement of the finger slide upwardly will cause the bottom rails to move downwardly thereby extending the shade components. Downward movement of the finger slide causes the bottom rails to move upwardly thereby collapsing the shade components into their retracted position.





FIG. 24B

illustrates another embodiment of the present invention which is substantially identical to that illustrated in

FIG. 24

except that the drive cords have been re-routed so that upward sliding movement of the finger slide causes upward movement of the bottom rails of each shade component and downward movement of the finger slide causes downward movement of the bottom rail of each slide segment. Corresponding parts of the insert illustrated in

FIG. 24B

have been given identical reference numerals to those used in

FIG. 24

with a prime suffix.




As can be seen in

FIG. 24B

, a pair of upper and a pair of lower idler pulleys are added into the framework above and below the finger slide


216


′ so that the first cord


218


′ extends downwardly from the finger slide around an idler pulley


236


before passing upwardly and around the upper idler pulley


222


′ and then downwardly around the lower idler pulley


26


′ before extending upwardly again around an upper idler pulley


238


that is vertically aligned with the pulley


236


before returning to the finger slide for attachment thereto. Similarly, the second drive cord


220


′ has one end attached to the finger slide and passes downwardly around an idler pulley


240


before extending upwardly around the upper idler pulley


228


′ and after having passed peripherally around the insert, the cord extends upwardly around an upper idler pulley


242


that is vertically aligned with the lower pulley


240


and subsequently the cord is returned to the finger slide for attachment to the top thereof. As will be appreciated, with this arrangement, and as mentioned previously, upward movement of the finger slide


216


′ causes the bottom rails of each shade component to move upwardly thereby collapsing the associated shades into their retracted positions, whereas downward movement of the finger slide causes the bottom rails to move downwardly so as to expand each shade component into its extended position.





FIGS. 25 and 26

disclose still another alternative system for moving a collapsible shade of the type shown in

FIG. 21

between extended and collapsed positions. In this arrangement, the opposite ends of a timing belt


244


are secured to a finger slide


246


and the timing belt passes around gear wheels


248


at the top and the bottom of the insert covering


250


, with the gear wheels being secured for unitary rotation with rotatable horizontally disposed drive rollers


252


. Each roller has anchored adjacent to one end thereof a lift cord


254


which extends downwardly through associated ends of the shade components


256


and has its opposite end anchored to the lower roller. Each lift cord is secured to the bottom rail


258


of each shade component so that movement of the cord up and down causes the shades to be retracted or extended respectively. It will, therefore, be appreciated that movement of the finger guide up and down causes the upper and lower drive rollers to rotate about their horizontal longitudinal axes thereby causing the lift cord to wrap or unwrap therefrom, as the case may be, which in turn causes the shade to be retracted or extended accordingly.




Referring next to

FIGS. 27-31

, another embodiment of the present invention is illustrated which could be utilized in a frame insert without muntins or dividers or might be used with dividers similar to the previously described embodiments. In this embodiment, an outer frame


260


supports a plurality of horizontally disposed fixed support rods


262


. A fabric sheet


264


, which might be, by way of example, a sheer, is provided having its lower edge secured to a drive roller


266


that, in turn, is rotatably mounted for rotation about its horizontal longitudinal axis. One end of the drive roller might have a drive gear thereon that is meshed with a timing belt or the like (

FIG. 31

) that is rotated by movement of a finger slide in a manner similar to that shown in FIG.


26


. In this manner, vertical movement of the finger slide causes the drive roller


266


to rotate in a selected direction. The fabric sheet has secured thereto along equally spaced horizontal lines of attachment


267


loops


268


of fabric material which might be different from the sheer. The material for the loops could be an opaque, translucent or transparent material. Each loop of fabric carries a weighted horizontally disposed guide rod


270


, the ends of which are slidably received in slots


272


provided in the right and left vertical frame members


274


of the insert at a slight angle relative to vertical. As will be appreciated, in operation of the covering, rotation of the drive roller in a counterclockwise direction, as viewed in

FIGS. 27 and 28

, will cause the fabric sheet


264


to unwind from the drive roller and shift upwardly due to the fact that it is being unwound from the drive roller and the weighted guide rods


270


are pulling the loops


268


of fabric downwardly by gravity thereby lifting the fabric sheet in reaction about the support rods. This movement, of course, causes the looped fabric to drop into an overlying relationship with the fabric sheet. Rotative movement of the drive roller in the opposite direction causes the fabric sheet to be wrapped therearound thereby pulling the weighted rods upwardly so that they slide vertically upwardly within the guide slots


272


until they reach the upper extent of the guide slots. At that point, as seen in

FIG. 28

, the looped fabric extends in an inverted U-shaped configuration with half of the looped fabric hanging downwardly from the front side of a support rod


262


and the other half hanging downwardly from the rear side of the support rod in contiguous face-to-face overlying relationship with a portion of the sheer fabric. It will be appreciated that if the looped fabric is an opaque material, for example, when the covering is in this position, half the distance between two adjacent support rods is covered by an opaque material while the other half of the distance is covered by the fabric sheet which could be sheer. Of course, in the other position where the fabric sheet is raised and the looped fabric is dropped downwardly off the front side of the fixed rods, the opaque fabric will block all vision and light through the covering. It is important to note that in the position of the covering illustrated in

FIG. 30

, where the weighted rods are in the lower end of the guide slots, each loop of fabric overlaps the underlying loop of fabric so that there are no gaps between adjacent loops.




Referring to

FIGS. 32-33

, an alternative arrangement to that described in connection with

FIGS. 27-31

is illustrated. In this arrangement, like parts have been given like reference numerals with a prime suffix and it will be appreciated that the framework


260


′ again supports a plurality of horizontally disposed fixed support rods


262


′ and weighted rods


270


′ are guided in inclined guide slots


272


′ in each vertical frame member


274


′. Again, a timing belt secured to a finger slide would pass around gears at opposite ends of a drive roller (all not shown) across the bottom of the insert and at opposite ends of an idler roller (not shown) at the top end of the insert. As in the embodiment shown in

FIGS. 27 through 31

, the drive roller again has a sheer fabric or the like wrapped therearound so that rotation of the drive roller in one direction causes the sheer fabric to move upwardly and rotation of the drive roller in the opposite direction causes the sheer fabric to move downwardly. A plurality of strips


280


of material are secured to the sheer fabric along equally spaced horizontal lines of attachment


267


′, with each strip of material defining a horizontal strip that has a weighted rod hemmed into its lower edge. The weighted rod, of course, slides within the inclined guide slots of the vertical frame members. This arrangement of the insert covering functions similarly to that previously described in connection with

FIGS. 27-31

, with the only difference being that the strips of fabric are not looped but are rather single-layer sheets. Again, the strips of material could be identical to the sheer or could be another translucent material, an opaque material or a transparent material.





FIGS. 35-40

disclose another embodiment of the present invention, with this embodiment again utilizing an outer framework


282


with a finger slide


284


mounted in the right frame member for moving the shade components


286


between open and closed positions. Each shade component includes a horizontally disposed driven roll bar


288


which is mounted for rotation about its horizontal longitudinal axis by timing belts


289


within the right and left vertical frame members. Each roll bar has double wrapped thereon first


290


and second


292


fabric strips which extend in opposite vertical directions from the roll bar. The first and second strips could be the same material but would preferably be different materials and might preferably be transparent or translucent in one case and opaque in the other case. The drive system, which will be described hereafter, is operative to simultaneously unwrap the first strip of material from a roll bar in an upward direction and the second strip of material from the same roll bar in the downward direction.




The outer edge of both the first and second strips of each shade component has a horizontal rod


294


therein which extends laterally beyond the ends of the strip to which it is attached. Pull cords operatively interconnect the horizontal rods in the following manner and as seen in

FIG. 40. A

first drive cord


296


is connected to the finger slide


284


, which is also affixed to a timing belt


289


, and is attached to the right ends of the horizontal rods associated with the second strip


292


of each shade segment above the finger slide. A second drive cord


298


extends downwardly from the finger slide and is connected to the right ends of the horizontal rods associated with the second strip


292


of each shade component beneath the slide member. The second drive cord extends beyond the lowest shade component and extends around an idler pulley


300


so that its opposite end is anchored to a first coil spring


302


that, in turn, is anchored at a centered location


304


to the lower frame member adjacent the bottom of the frame. A third drive cord


306


is connected to the right ends of the horizontal rods


294


associated with the first strips


290


of material and extends from the lowermost shade component upwardly around an idler pulley


308


at the upper right hand corner of the frame and has its opposite end secured to a second coil spring


310


whose opposite end is anchored at a centered location


312


near the top of the frame. A fourth drive cord


314


is connected to the left ends of the horizontal rods


294


associated with the first strips


290


of material and extends upwardly around another idler pulley


313


and has its opposite end connected to a third coil spring


316


that is anchored at the same location as the second coil spring


310


. The fourth drive cord


314


connects the left ends of the horizontal bars associated with the second strips


292


of material and extends downwardly from the uppermost shade component around a fourth idler pulley


318


in the lower left hand corner of the frame with its opposite′ end anchored to a fourth coil spring


320


that is anchored at the same location to the frame as the first coil spring


302


.




With this cord drive system, movement of the finger slide


284


downwardly pulls the second strip


292


of material in each shade component and the timing belt


289


downwardly thereby causing the associated rollers to rotate in a first direction, which causes each roller to allow the first strip


290


material to simultaneously unroll from the roller in an upward direction. The first strip


290


material is pulled upwardly due to the fact that the coil springs


310


and


316


at the top of the frame are biased to raise the first strips and as the strips become free to rise as they are unrolled from the associated rollers, the coil springs pull them uniformly as the second strip


292


members are being moved downwardly. Conversely, as the slide member is moved upwardly, it pulls the second strip


292


materials upwardly toward a wrapped position against the bias of the coil springs


302


and


320


. It will, therefore, be appreciated that numerous conditions can be affected and if, for example, the first strip material is a translucent sheer fabric and the second strip material is an opaque fabric, movement of the slide member to its extreme lower position causes the second opaque strip member to extend from one roller to the next roller thereby totally blocking vision through the covering. Extreme movement of the slide member upwardly causes both fabrics to be wrapped around the rollers so that the covering is in a totally open condition allowing the complete passage of vision and light therethrough. Positioning of the slide member at an intermediate location provides alternating strips of opaque and sheer fabric for an unusual aesthetic look, as well as some intermediate control of the passage of vision or light through the covering. The manner in which the first and second strips of material are rolled and unrolled from the rollers is illustrated in

FIGS. 35-39

.




Referring to

FIGS. 41-43

, an alternative arrangement to that described in connection with

FIGS. 1-19

is illustrated.. In this arrangement


321


, back-to-back units


322


and


324


that might each be identical to the embodiment shown in

FIGS. 1-19

are utilized. Accordingly, each unit would work identically to that previously described except that the material


326


wrapped on corresponding rollers


328


behind corresponding horizontal dividers


330


might be different. For example, in the unit


322


as shown on the right side of

FIG. 41

, there might be a translucent material, such as sheer, wrapped on the rollers, while on the unit


324


shown on the left side in

FIG. 41

, an opaque material might be used. Accordingly, the covering insert


321


could be operated so that there was no material in the openings between the dividers of the insert, as illustrated in

FIG. 41

, or the sheer fabric might be extended without extending the opaque fabric so that there would be some vision through the covering due to the translucency of the sheer material. The opaque; material could also selectively be extended to block vision and light through the covering insert and the opaque material might be extended with or without the sheer material being extended. It will, therefore, be appreciated that various alternative options would be available with a system as shown in FIG.


41


.

FIGS. 42 and 43

simply illustrate that the fabric materials can be arranged to drop off the front side or the rear side or both of the rollers for different aesthetic looks





FIGS. 44 and 45

illustrate an insert covering


332


similar to that shown in

FIGS. 35-40

except the first and second strips of material


334


and


336


, respectively, that are double-wrapped on horizontal rollers


338


have their free edges


340


and


342


, respectively, secured to the next adjacent strip of material coming off an adjacent roller. In other words, the first strip


334


of material which extends upwardly from a roller is connected along its free edge


340


to the downwardly extending free edge


342


of a second strip


336


of material that extends downwardly from the next adjacent upper roller. Similarly, the second strip


336


of material extending downwardly from one roller has its free edge


342


secured to the free edge


340


of the first strip


334


of material extending upwardly from the next adjacent lower roller. In this embodiment of a covering insert, there is always material across the architectural opening. If the first and second strips of material are different materials, the covering can be arranged so that the first strip of material extends from one roller to the next adjacent roller, or the second strip of material can extend from one roller to the next adjacent roller, or some portion of each of the first and second strips of material can bridge the space between adjacent rollers.





FIGS. 46 and 47

illustrate another embodiment of the present invention and in this embodiment, again there is an outer framework


344


with horizontally disposed rollers


346


aligned with horizontal dividers that are not shown. Each horizontal roller has a strip of material


350


wrapped thereon, with the free edge of each strip having a weighted horizontal rod


352


retained in a hem therealong. The end of each roller has a timing gear


354


thereon that is in driving engagement with an endless timing belt


356


that is operatively engaged with an upper horizontal bias rod


3581


also having timing gears


360


at opposite ends thereof. The center of the bias rod is keyed to a coiled leaf spring


362


which biases the rollers in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in

FIG. 47

, which is the direction in which the rollers are rotated to wrap the associated strips of material thereon. There are, in addition, two control cords


364


and


366


, with one control cord


364


being connected to the right end of each of the horizontal rods


352


and the second control cord


366


connected to the left end of each horizontal rod


352


and with the opposite ends of the control cords anchored to a rotatable knob


368


that is hand manipulated. Clockwise rotation of the knob


368


as viewed in

FIG. 46

causes the control cords to wrap therearound pulling the horizontal rods


362


downwardly so as to unwrap the strips of material


350


from their associated rollers. Of course, rotation in this direction is against the bias of the spring


362


, but the spring is not so strong that it overcomes the unrolling of the strips of material. Rotation of the knob in the opposite counterclockwise direction frees the lower edge of each strip of material so that the spring can rotate the rollers thereby causing the strips of fabric to be wrapped d around their associated rollers.





FIGS. 48 and 49

illustrate an alternative way for operating a system of the type disclosed in

FIGS. 1-19

and in this arrangement there is, again, an outer framework


370


with horizontally mounted rollers


372


, that support flexible strips of material (not shown) that can be wrapped around the rollers. One end of each roller has a spur gear


374


thereon which is in meshed engagement with a aligned worm gears


376


spaced along the length of a vertical drive rod


378


that is rotatably supported in upper and lower frame members


380


and


382


, respectively. The vertical drive rod carries a bevel gear


384


near its lower end which is meshed with a bevel gear


386


on the drive shaft of an electric motor


388


such that rotation of the drive shaft in one direction causes the rollers associated with each shade component to rotate in one direction, and rotation of the drive shaft in the opposite direction causes an opposite directional rotational movement of the rollers. Of course, the electric motor could be remotely controlled or manually switched on and off to affect an operation of the covering.





FIGS. 50 and 51

illustrate another embodiment similar to that shown in

FIGS. 48 and 49

where, again, there is an outer framework


390


with horizontally disposed rollers


392


supporting flexible strips of material


394


. The rollers, of course, would preferably be hidden behind horizontal dividers which are not shown. Each roller carries on its end a spur gear


396


that is rotatably mounted in a rectangular cage


398


in meshed engagement with a worm gear


400


also in the cage. The worm gear is slidably mounted on a vertical drive rod


402


for unitary rotation with the rod and this could be accomplished by providing the drive rod with a non-circular cross-section that mates with a passage through the worm gear. It will be appreciated that rotational movement of the drive rod, which can be affected through bevel gears


404


by an electric motor


406


, will cause the strips of material


394


to extend or retract. A rotatable knob


408


is mounted in the upper end of the framework and has first and second pull cords


410


,


412


associated therewith. Only one pull cord


410


is fully illustrated and it extends to the left from the rotatable knob and passes over an idler pulley


414


before extending downwardly to be connected to the cage


398


associated with the lowermost roller. The second drive cord


412


extends to the right and is connected in a similar manner to a carriage associated with the opposite end of the lowermost roller. Rotation of the knob causes the pull cords to be wrapped therearound thereby pulling the cage associated with the lowermost roller upwardly and it, in turn, engages the cage immediately above and this sequentially occurs until each cage and associated roller and strip material is stacked adjacent the top of the frame. The stacking, of course, can be accomplished with or without first retracting the strips of material with the electric motor. Spacer cords


415


interconnect each adjacent cage so that when the knob is rotated in an opposite direction and the cages are lowered it will have a predetermined spacing.





FIGS. 52-54

illustrate another embodiment of a shade that is similar to the embodiment shown in

FIGS. 1-19

. In this embodiment, there is an outer framework


416


and horizontal rollers


418


supporting strips of material


420


that can be wrapped or unwrapped from the roller. The free edge of each strip of material has a weighted rod


422


that pulls the strip of material downwardly as it is unrolled from its associated roller. A finger slide


424


is mounted in the lower frame member for sliding movement in a horizontal direction and one continuous drive cord


426


that operatively interconnects the rollers with the finger slide. The cord is connected at one end to the finger slide and extends around a rear idler pulley


428


of a first pair of idler pulleys in the lower left hand corner of the framework, as viewed in

FIGS. 52 and 54

, and then extends upwardly where it is wrapped around a drive pulley


430


associated with the lowermost roller. The pulley


430


is keyed to the lowermost roller


418


so that rotation of the pulley causes rotation of the roller. After having been wrapped around the pulley


430


, the cord extends upwardly and is wrapped around a drive pulley


432


associated with the next adjacent upper roller and sequentially until it reaches the top roller, and after having been wrapped around the drive pulley


434


associated with the uppermost roller, the drive cord extends downwardly and is passed around the front idler pulley


436


of the first pair of idler pulleys in the lower left hand corner of the frame as best seen in FIG.


54


. From there the cord extends laterally to the lower right side of the frame where it passes around the rear pulley


438


of a second pair of idler pulleys. The cord then extends upwardly adjacent to guide cylinders


440


on each roller, with the cord ultimately passing around an idler pulley


442


associated with the uppermost roller at the top of the device and then downwardly again around the front pulley


444


of the second pair of pulleys in the lower right hand corner before again being anchored to the finger slide


424


. It will be appreciated with this arrangement, that sliding movement of the finger slide in one direction causes the rollers to simultaneously rotate in one direction which unwinds the strips of material therefrom and due to the weighted rods, the strips of material continue to fall downwardly. Movement of the slide member in the opposite direction causes the rollers to rotate in the opposite direction thereby wrapping the strips of material therearound and lifting the weighted rods


422


.




It will be appreciated from the description above that numerous arrangements of coverings for architectural openings have been described which are specifically suited for covering individually of in multiples the relatively small panels formed in simulated divided light windows. The systems would not have to be used in simulated divided light windows but do find a unique application therein. It will also be apparent to those skilled in the art that various combinations of features found in the embodiments described could be employed so that there would be numerous other arrangements derivable from the embodiments disclosed herein. Also, the manner in which the covering components are manipulated could take various forms other than those illustrated.




It will also be appreciated that with systems of the type described, the entire architectural covering is substantially hidden from view or is invisible to a viewer when the system is fully retracted as the shade components are hidden behind the muntins and the finger slide is substantially unnoticeable with the operating components associated with the slide being hidden within the frame members of the insert. It will also be appreciated that the covering of the present invention is adapted for use with various types of retractable coverings such as roller shades, collapsible cellular shades, Venetian blinds, vertical blinds, etc. It is also to be appreciated that the covering can be fully extended and retracted with a relatively short stroke of the finger slide, with the short stroke being less than the entire height or width of the architectural opening i| which the covering is mounted.




It should also be pointed out that the various embodiments of the insert previously described can be mounted in windows or the like in various other ways. For example, the insert can be affixed, as with adhesive, directly to the main or base panel of glass in a window or can be inserted between panel of glass in double pane windows. In some windows a removable glass panel is provided for seasonal or other use with an example being a removable panel window currently sold under the Pella™ trademark. These windows have a base panel of glass or even a double panel of glass and, in addition, the removable panel. The insert of the present invention could replace the removable glass panel or it could be secured to the removable glass panel or the base panel with adhesive or by other means so that the insert was positioned between the base panel and the removable panel. Whether the insert was secured to the base panel or the removable panel, the removable panel could still be selectively removed.




Another embodiment


450


of the present invention is shown in

FIGS. 55-94

and with reference first to

FIG. 55

, the embodiment can be seen to include a plurality of shade components


452


mounted on a framework


454


having an outer peripheral frame with two vertical side frame members


456


and a top


458


and bottom


460


frame member. A plurality of vertical and horizontal cross frame members or muntins


462


are also provided. A shade component


452


is associated with each horizontal muntin as well as the top frame member and as will be explained in more detail later, the shade components are removably mounted so that they can be replaced or removed for cleaning purposes or the like.

FIG. 56

shows the lowermost shade component having been removed.




Referencing

FIGS. 58-60

, a curtain


464


used in the shade component is illustrated as a collapsible shade of the cellular type, it being recognized that any collapsible shade could be utilized such as a pleated shade or the like. The collapsible shade or curtain


464


has an uppermost cell which is secured in a downwardly opening channel-shaped top rail member


466


as shown in FIG.


88


. The channel-shaped top rail can be seen to include a pair of opposed open grooves


468


along each side edge so that the uppermost cell of the curtain can be inserted into the open channel and, a long rigid or semi-rigid strip


470


inserted into the interior of the uppermost cell. The edges of the strip are received in the open grooves


468


to hold the uppermost cell in the top rail. The remaining depending cells hang vertically downwardly and the lowermost cell is attached to a bottom rail


472


which is identical to the top rail except that it has been inverted. The attachment, of course, of the lowermost cell to the bottom rail is identical to the uppermost cell to the top rail.




An end cap


474


, as probably best seen in

FIGS. 88

,


89


,


91


and


92


, is inserted into each open end of both the top rail


466


and the bottom rail


472


and includes a face plate


476


having three cooperating tabs


478


utilized to connect the end of the top and bottom rails to a transfer system for moving the shade between a retracted (

FIG. 59

) and expanded (

FIG. 60

) position. There are three tabs with the outermost or end tabs


478




e


being of generally T-shaped cross section and a center tab


478




c


of semi-cylindrical configuration. The tabs cooperate in a manner to be described hereafter.




Each shade component


452


, therefore, includes a top rail


466


, a bottom rail


472


and a collapsible curtain


464


therebetween and as will be explained later, the top rail is releasably fixed to the outer frame in cooperation with a transfer system and the bottom rail is releasably attached to transfer system which is adapted to move the bottom rail toward and away from the top rail in synchronization with the bottom rails of the other shade components. The transfer mechanism is mounted, in the two vertical side frame members


456


and is operated by a finger slide


480


, as seen in

FIG. 55

, that is disposed for movement in a slot


482


formed in the right side frame member so that as the finger slide is moved up and down in the slot, the shade components


452


are retracted and extended simultaneously and in synchronism.




Looking again at

FIGS. 58-60

, the uppermost shade component


452


can be seen fully retracted in

FIG. 59

with the next lowermost shade component also in a retracted position. In

FIG. 58

, the upper shade component has been partially extended across three horizontally adjacent openings


484


of the divided light architectural opening and as partially shown, the next lower shade component is expanded to the same degree. In

FIG. 60

, the upper shade component is shown fully expanded across the three horizontally adjacent divided light openings across the top of the frame and as, will also be appreciated, the top


466


and bottom


472


rails are positioned in a concealed position !behind the horizontal muntin


462


associated therewith.




The transfer mechanism for moving the shade components between the extended and retracted positions is probably best generally seen in

FIG. 61

, as well as

FIGS. 58-60

, to include a transfer or drive belt


486


positioned in each of the vertical side frame members


456


with the belt being an endless belt that passes around concealed rollers or pulleys at the top and bottom of the frame. Upper


488


and lower


490


fixed mounting brackets support the rollers with the upper mounting bracket also releasably supporting the top rail


466


of the uppermost shade component and the lower bracket also operatively supporting a transfer rod


492


that extends across the bottom of the frame within the bottom frame member


460


. The transfer rod is provided to synchronize movement of the transfer belts on both sides of the frame.




The top rails


466


of all but the uppermost shade component are releasably, but securely, fixed to the side frame members with another connector bracket


494


and the bottom rail


472


of each shade component is connected to the transfer belt with a releasable slide bracket


496


. As can probably best be seen in

FIG. 61

, the transfer belt


486


is a flat, non-elastic but flexible belt, having a plurality of uniformly spaced openings or holes


498


along its length and as will be appreciated with the description that follows, the openings are adapted to cooperate with bead-like protrusions on the rollers at the top and bottom of the frame to synchronize and positively drive the belts.




Vertically extending channel guides


500


, as probably best seen in

FIGS. 66 and 72

, extend upwardly along the inner surface of the left and right side frame members


456


and open inwardly while defining a generally trapezoidal shaped channel therein. The channel guides are adapted to guide movement of the various components of the transfer system and also serve as a mounting for some of those components. The channel guides can be adhesively or mechanically secured to the side frame members so as to define a positive guide track for the transfer system




The uppermost mounting bracket


488


is probably best seen in

FIGS. 62

,


66


-


69


and


81


-


84


to include a female component


502


(

FIG. 84

) having a base connector


504


of generally trapezoidal configuration adapted to conform with and be received in the associated channel guide


500


and is adhesively or otherwise secured in position at the top of the channel guide. The female component as parallel outer arms


506


projecting inwardly and defining generally arrow-shaped slots


508


for releasably receiving the male component


510


of the bracket (FIGS.


82


and


83


). Spaced inwardly from the outer arms are a pair of parallel inner arms


512


which define a vertically extending groove


514


adapted to rotatably receive the roller member


516


shown in

FIG. 81. A

blind hole


518


is provided in the groove that opens inwardly and is adapted to rotatably receive the roller member to provide a bearing support therefor.




The male component


510


of the upper bracket


488


has a base plate


520


with a pair of arrow-shaped catch arms


522


projecting outwardly and adapted to be aligned with and releasably received in a snap lock relationship in the arrow-shaped slots


508


in the outer arms of the female component. On the outer face of the base plate, a circular blind hole


524


is provided that is adapted to be aligned with the blind hole


518


in the female component and the blind holes are designed to rotatably support the roller


516


, as will be described hereafter. A pair of support arms


526


extend beneath but are spaced from the catch arms


522


and are adapted to protrude beneath the outer arms


506


of the female component to rigidify the connection between the two components. On the inner face of the base plate


520


of the male component, a pair of spaced horizontal catch plates


528


are provided which have end protuberances


530


that are spaced from the base plate and thereby define a channel


532


between the catch plates and the base plate. At the center of each catch plate an arcuate recess


534


is provided. The catch plates are adapted to releasably receive the end cap


474


of the top rail


466


of the uppermost shade component by sliding the tabs


478


protruding from the end cap into an open end of the channel


532


defined between the catch plates and the base plate of the male component. The semi-cylindrical or center tab


478




c


on the end cap becomes nested within the arcuate recess


534


of the lower catch plate to cooperate with the T-shaped tabs


478




e


in releasably retaining the end cap between the catch plates.




The pulley or roller


516


which is in essence a timing cog roller and seen best in

FIG. 81

, includes a main cylindrical body


536


with a plurality of hemispherical beads


538


equally spaced circumferentially therearound. A pair of stub shafts


540


protrude axially from the main cylindrical body in opposite directions and are adapted to be rotatably received in the blind hole


524


in the male component and the blind hole


518


in the female component. The roller is adapted to receive the uppermost run of the timing belt with the beads, of course, being operatively received in the spaced holes


498


in the drive belt so that there is no slippage in rotation of the drive belt.




The top rail


466


of each shade component


452


, except the uppermost shade component, is releasably secured to the side frame members


456


with the bracket


494


, as best seen in FIGS.,


64


,


70


and


71


. The bracket


494


has a generally trapezoidal-shaped main body


542


that can be slid longitudinally along the length of the channel guide


500


until it is positioned at a desired elevation, for example, in alignment with a horizontal muntin


462


of the frame. Protruding inwardly from the trapezoidal main body is a channel-shaped body


544


that is of generally H-shape in horizontal cross section, as best seen in FIG.


70


. The H-shaped cross section defines a channel


546


on each side of the bracket adapted to receive one of the vertical runs of the timing belt


486


. The innermost end of the bracket


494


has a pair of spaced catch plates


528


identical to those shown on the male component of the upper bracket and as shown in FIG.


83


.




The catch or attachment plates thereby define a system by which the end cap


474


of a top rail


466


, other than the top rail of the uppermost shade component, can be releasably received by sliding the tabs


478


in the end cap horizontally into the channel


532


defined between the catch plates. A horizontal cylindrical passage


548


is provided through the bracket to receive a screw-type fastener


550


which is adapted to pass not only through the bracket but also the channel guide


500


and into the side frame member


456


at the desired elevation which, as mentioned above, is desirably in alignment with a horizontal muntin


462


. It will, therefore, be appreciated that when the top rails of the associated shade components are releasably connected to the brackets, they are positively positioned at a predetermined elevation and horizontally disposed.




The bottom rail


472


of each shade component


452


is connected to the slide bracket


496


that is best seen in

FIGS. 63

,


72


-


76


and


85


-


87


. The slide bracket has a male component


552


(FIG.


87


), a female component


554


(

FIG. 86

) and an anchor block


556


(FIG.


85


). The female component has a generally trapezoidal shaped base


558


with a vertical channel


560


therethrough and with the base being adapted to slide within the channel guide


500


vertically along an associated side frame member


456


. A base plate


562


that supports the trapezoidal base


558


on one side has a pair of side plates


564


protruding in the opposite or inward direction with each side plate having three generally U-shaped notches


566


therein which open inwardly or toward the opposite side frame member. The male component


552


(

FIG. 87

) has a base plate


568


having on its innermost face (the face that is directed toward the opposite side frame member) a pair of the catch plates


528


identical to those defined previously in connection with the male component of the uppermost bracket


488


. The catch plates are, again, designed to releasably receive the end cap of a bottom rail. A plurality of generally U-shaped fingers


570


project outwardly from opposite ends of the base plate and are in alignment with the notches


566


of the female component. The fingers are slightly shorter than the depth of the notches for a purpose to be described later. Also projecting outwardly from the base plate is a generally cylindrical hub


572


having upwardly and downwardly projecting vertical gussets


574


. The hub has a cylindrical horizontal passage


576


therethrough. The passage is aligned with a hole


578


in the base plate of the female member so that a screw-type fastener


580


can be extended therethrough to secure the male component to the female component, as probably best seen in FIG.


73


. The anchor block


556


is designed to be disposed between the male and female components, as probably best seen in

FIG. 75

, with the anchor block having a pair of laterally protruding cylindrical pin-like projections


582


on one side and a cylindrical groove


584


on the opposite side. The cylindrical groove is adapted to mate with the hub


572


on the male component and the pin-like projections are adapted to be received in aligned notches


566


of the female component and held in position by the fingers


570


of the male component, as best seen in FIG.


75


. The cylindrical or pin-like projections also project through a pair of holes


498


in the timing or transfer belt


486


so that the slide bracket


496


is securely fixed to the drive belt for unitary movement therewith.




The drive belt


486


, as mentioned previously, is an endless belt, but it is formed from a strip of flexible material and the two ends of the material can be spliced at one of the slide brackets


496


as illustrated in

FIG. 76

so as to form the endless belt. As seen in

FIG. 76

, the pin-like projections


582


from the anchor block


556


are extended through two layers of the belt at opposite ends of the strip from which the belt is made so that the ends cannot move relative to each other and the belt thereby becomes effectively endless.




The slide bracket


496


on the right end of the shade component that is third down from the top has a modified female component


586


which is illustrated in

FIG. 86A

As will be appreciated in

FIG. 86A

, the base plate


588


of the female component


586


is extended at


589


in a direction toward the front of the frame


454


so that the base plate protrudes forwardly through the slot


482


in the right side frame member


456


. A pair of opposed notches


590


are provided in the top and bottom edge of the extension of the base plate which are adapted to releasably receive in a snap-like manner a cap


592


as shown in

FIG. 72A

which can be grasped by a user of the covering.




The bracket


490


at the bottom of the frame


454


that rotatably supports the lower pulley or roller


516


associated with the drive belt is best seen in

FIGS. 65

,


77


-


80


,


84


,


86


B and


86


C. The female component


502


of the bracket at the bottom of the frame is identical to the female component


502


of the bracket at the top of the frame and that being the bracket illustrated in FIG.


84


. The male component


594


, however, is different and is best seen in

FIGS. 93 and 94

to comprise a base plate


596


having a pair of arrow-shaped catch arms


598


projecting outwardly toward the female component and adapted to be received in the arrow-shaped slots


508


of the outer arms of the female component. The female component, of course, is again mounted in the channel guide


500


so as to be secured thereto and can be adhesively or otherwise secured in position. A cylindrical opening


600


extends through the base plate of the male connector and as best seen in

FIGS. 77

,


78


, the cylindrical opening is adapted to receive a stub shaft


602


on the end cap


604


of the cylindrical transfer rod


606


that extends across the bottom of the frame within the bottom frame member


460


. The stub shaft has a relatively large cylindrical body


608


that is adapted to be received in the open end of the cylindrical transfer rod with the cylindrical body


608


having a longitudinally extending groove (not seen) defined therein. The groove is adapted to receive and, therefore, be keyed to a longitudinal bead


612


in the inner surface of the cylindrical transfer rod so that the transfer rod and stub shaft


602


rotate in unison about the longitudinal axis of the transfer rod. The stub shaft has a smaller portion


614


of octagonal transverse cross-section that cooperates with an octagonal central blind axial opening


616


in the pulley or roller


516


. The smaller cylindrical portion


614


of the stub shaft is thereby keyed to the roller when the roller is positioned between the male and female components of the bottom bracket


490


, as illustrated in FIG.


78


. The bead-type projections on the circumferential surface of the roller are, again, engagable with the holes in the transfer belt


486


to positively drive the belt.




It will, therefore, be appreciated that by movement of the finger slide


592


the connected run of the transfer belt is moved upwardly or downwardly and simultaneously rotates the transfer rod at the bottom of the frame so that the belts on both sides of the frame are moved simultaneously and in synchronism.




It will be appreciated from the above that a covering for an architectural opening has been described which can be mounted within an outer framework and is insertable into an architectural opening and secured therein in any suitable manner. When the shade components of the covering are completely retracted, they are hidden behind an associated horizontal muntin and, therefore, concealed from view in one direction. A simple sliding movement of a finger slide over a relatively short distance, i.e., the height of one divided light opening, causes the entire architectural opening to be covered by the plurality of shade components which move synchronisely between retracted and extended positions.




Another embodiment


620


of the covering of the present invention is shown in

FIGS. 93-136

, and as best seen in

FIG. 93

, the covering


620


includes an outer framework


622


with top


624


and bottom


626


frame members and left and right side frame members


628


in addition to a plurality of horizontal and vertical cross frame members or muntins


630


. The frame supports a plurality of horizontally disposed and vertically spaced shade components


632


. As will be described in more detail later, each shade component is in the form of a roll-down shade of the type having a spring biased roller to which a top edge of a curtain in the form of a flexible sheet of material is secured and a bottom edge is secured to a bottom rail that can be pulled downwardly to unroll the flexible sheet material from the roller against the spring bias.




The uppermost shade component


632


is shown in several different positions in

FIGS. 95-97

, with

FIG. 97

showing the shade component totally retracted with the flexible sheet material or curtain


634


associated therewith wrapped around its associated roller


636


,

FIG. 95

showing the shade component in a partially extended position and

FIG. 96

with the shade component fully extended across three horizontally aligned divided openings


638


in the frame.




As is probably best seen in

FIGS. 100-104

, each shade roller


636


includes a cylindrical roll bar


638


to which one edge of the flexible sheet material


634


is secured so as to be wrappable therearound, and a coil spring


640


that also functions as a torsion spring disposed therein. At the right end of each roller, as viewed in

FIGS. 100 and 101

, the spring is supported on a slide collar


642


that is keyed to a shaft


644


that has on its outermost end a disk-like head


646


that has a three tab releasable mounting system


648


identical to that described previously in regard to the embodiment illustrated in

FIGS. 88 and 89

. The shaft disc-like head and mounting system constitute an end cap


649


of the roller. The shaft


644


is slidably received in a cylindrical bearing


646


received in the right end of the roll bar with the bearing having a cylindrical passageway


648


therethrough that permits free rotation of the shaft


644


relative thereto. The shaft is of hexagonal transverse cross section and the slide collar


642


has a hexagonal passage


650


therethrough adapted to mate with the shaft to fix the collar relative to the shaft. A transverse pin


652


also extends through the slide collar and the shaft to prevent axial movement. It will, therefore, be appreciated that the collar is fixed both axially and with regard to rotation relative to the shaft. The left end of the roll bar receives an end cap


654


with a three tab mounting system


656


on its outer surface and having an inwardly extending cylindrical sleeve


658


adapted to be received within the open end of the roll bar. A bearing


660


is received in the left end of the roll bar and cooperates with a tong


662


on the end of the spring


640


so that the left end of the spring rotates with the bearing


660


which is fixed to the roll bar so as to rotate with the roll bar. Accordingly, as the roller


636


rotates in one direction, i.e., the direction in which the sheet material is unwrapped therefrom, the left end of the spring is rotated but the right end of the spring remains stationary thereby establishing a torsional bias in the spring biasing the roller toward a position wherein the sheet-like material is fully wrapped thereon. The roller


636


is axially movable as illustrated in

FIGS. 100 and 102

between a neutral extended position in

FIG. 100

, and a depressed position, as shown in

FIG. 100

wherein the coil spring


640


is compressed. The position of

FIG. 100

is the neutral position of the right end, but for mounting the right end within the frame


622


the shaft


644


at the night end of the roller is depressed into the position of

FIG. 101

in which it remains while the roller is inserted into the frame, as will be explained more clearly later.




As seen in

FIGS. 98 and 99

, the end cap


654


and the disc


646


at opposite ends of the roller also have a horizontally protruding cylindrical finger


664


which is insertable into a cylindrical sleeve


666


on a plate like dust cover


668


that extends longitudinally of the roller


636


but at a radial distance from its central longitudinal axis which is greater than the outer wrap of the flexible sheet


634


on the roller. The fingers support the dust cover in a pivotal manner so that the dust cover can simply overlay the wrapped sheet material on the roller but follow the varying radial thickness of the roller as the sheet is rolled or unrolled therefrom.




The roller


636


for the uppermost shade component


632


has its opposite ends supported by identical mounting brackets


670


shown best in

FIGS. 105

,


108


,


110


,


128


and


129


. In those views, it will be appreciated that the bracket


670


includes a top plate


672


having a screw slot


674


adapted to receive a screw-type fastener


676


to secure the bracket to the top frame member


624


in the associated corner thereof. Depending from the top plate is an outer plate


678


having a pair of vertically extending and outwardly projecting legs


680


and a central hub


682


. Spaced inwardly from the outer plate


678


is an inner plate


684


having forwardly and rearwardly directed but vertically extending guide ribs


686


. The guide ribs are spaced from another inwardly spaced plate


688


so as to define a pair of vertically extending grooves


690


therebetween. The plate


688


has mounted on its innermost face a pair of vertically spaced horizontally disposed catch plates


690


of the type previously described in connection with the end caps illustrated in

FIGS. 88 and 89

of a previous embodiment. Of course, the catch plates are adapted to releasably receive the tabs on the end caps


654


and the disc


646


of the roller in the manner previously described. A generally rectangularly shaped pocket


692


is formed in the top bracket with the pocket opening through the top plate as best seen in FIG.


129


. The rectangular pocket has notches


694


formed in inner and outer side walls thereof with the notches being vertically aligned with generally U-shaped grooves


696


formed in the confronting faces of the outer plate


678


and the inner plate


684


. The pocket is adapted to removably receive a roller


698


identical to that illustrated in

FIG. 81

of a prior embodiment and as will be appreciated, the roller has a pair of axially extending stub shafts


700


. The stub shafts are adapted to be rotatably supported in the U-shaped grooves


696


, as probably best illustrated in FIG.


110


. Accordingly, the roller is rotatably supported within the top bracket


670


in a position to receive a timing or drive belt


702


of the type also described in connection with the previous embodiment shown in

FIG. 55

with the timing belt having a plurality of longitudinally spaced holes


704


therein adapted to mate with beads


706


that are circumferentially spaced around the perimeter of the roller


698


. The timing belt, as will be described in more detail later, is effectively endless and extends along both the right and left side frame members


628


while passing around rollers


698


at the top and bottom of each side frame member.




The free edge of the sheet of flexible material or curtain


634


wrapped on each roller has a bottom rail


708


secured thereto which, as best seen in

FIGS. 95-97

and


106


, is a hollow tubular bar of quadrangular cross section. The tubular bar has a slot


710


formed along its length adapted to receive the free edge of the flexible sheet material and a bead of glue or other such means


712


can be

FIG. 99B

of fixed to the end of the flexible sheet material to retain the edge within the hollow interior of the hollow bar. Each hollow bar has an end cap


714


at opposite ends thereof having a disk-like plate


716


with a square extension


718


therefrom adapted to be frictionally received within the open end of the hollow bar. The outer face of the plate


716


has a set of the three releasable lock tabs


720


of the type previously described in connection with the end caps for the rollers


636


. The bottom rails are adapted to be releasably connected to a slide bracket


722


which is probably best illustrated in

FIGS. 106

,


113


,


114


and


117


. The slide bracket is adapted to slide vertically within a generally U-shaped channel guide


724


mounted on the inside of each right and left frame member


628


with the U-shaped channel having inturned lips


726


along its innermost open side.




As is probably best seen in

FIGS. 130-132

, the slide bracket


722


has three component parts, a main body


728


shown in

FIG. 132

, an inner closure body


730


shown in FIG.


130


and an anchor block


732


shown in FIG.


131


. The main body has an outer plate


734


with outwardly directed vertically extending elongated legs


736


along each side edge adapted to slidingly engage the inner surface of the outer wall


738


of the channel guide as seen in FIG.


113


. The bracket also includes two side walls


740


that are integral with forwardly and rearwardly extending side slide arms


742


and also forwardly and rearwardly extending guide plates


744


. The outer edges of the slide arms are adapted to slidingly engage side walls


746


of the channel guide and the guide plates are adapted to engage the inturned lips


726


of the channel guide so that the main body


728


of the slide member is disposed for vertical and guided sliding movement along the length of the channel guide. The main body further includes a central hub


748


with a blind hole


750


therein that opens inwardly. Vertical extension plates or gussets


752


extend upwardly and downwardly from the central hub and cooperate with the hub in defining a pair of vertically extending open channels


754


between the hub and the side wails


746


. These open channels are adapted to receive the two vertically extending runs of the endless timing belt


702


, as will be described in more clarity later.




The inner closure body


730


of the slide bracket has a base plate


756


with a central opening


758


therethrough and a pair of horizontally disposed and vertically spaced catch plates


760


on its innermost surface which function as previously described to releasably receive in a snap-like manner the tabs


720


on the end caps


714


of the bottom rails


708


of each shade component. The inner closure body is secured to the main body


728


of the slide member with a threaded screw-type fastener


762


which extends through the opening in the base plate


756


of the closure body and into the blind hole


750


in the main body. Before securing the closure body to the main body, however, the anchor block


732


as shown in

FIG. 131

is positioned in one of the channels


754


. The anchor block, as probably best seen in

FIG. 113

, has a pair of protruding pins


764


adapted to extend through holes in the timing belt and into recesses in the associated side wall


740


of the main body to secure the slide bracket to the timing belt for unitary movement therewith. The anchor block was previously illustrated in

FIG. 85

in connection with another embodiment of the present invention and described therewith.




It will, therefore, be appreciated that the slide bracket


722


is adapted to be secured to the timing belt and be reciprocally moved with one vertical run of the timing belt within the channel guide. The slide bracket of course, is connected to an associated end of the bottom rail so that the bottom rail


708


can be moved downwardly from the its associated roller thereby extending the flexible curtain or sheet of material


634


by movement of the timing belt in a direction that causes the slide bracket to move downwardly. Of course, an opposite movement of the timing belt causes the slide bracket to move upwardly thereby moving the bottom rail of a shade component upwardly toward its associated roller allowing the flexible sheet of material to wrap around the roller.




The right side frame member


628


of the frame has a vertical slot


766


(

FIGS. 93 and 117

) formed therein and the slide bracket that is associated with the shade component aligned with the slot


766


is formed slightly differently than the slide bracket


722


associated with the other shade components. With reference to

FIG. 93

, it will be appreciated that there are five vertically aligned shade components


632


in the covering so that the two uppermost shade components and the two lowermost shade components would have a slide bracket


722


as previously described. The slide bracket.


768


associated with the middle shade component, however, would have a closure body


770


, as illustrated in

FIG. 123

, which is identical to the previously described closure body illustrated in

FIG. 130

except that it has an integral extension


772


from a base plate


774


that protrudes outwardly through the slot in the right side frame member. The edges of the extension


772


at the end thereof are serrated at


776


to receive a manually-operated finger slide cap


778


, which is probably best seen in FIGS.


118


and


124


-


127


. As illustrated in

FIG. 118

, the finger slide cap has a base component


780


shown in

FIGS. 124 and 125

that is press-fit onto the end of the extension so as to cooperate with the serrated edges


776


of the closure body so that the base component is securely positioned and attached thereto. The base component has a hub


782


with a horizontal passageway therethrough that is adapted to pivotally support a pivot arm component


784


of the finger slide cap. The pivot arm, which is shown in

FIGS. 118

,


126


and


127


, is pivoted on the hub by a pivot pin


786


so that the arm can be swung inwardly or outwardly as desired. When the arm is swung outwardly into the dashed line position of

FIG. 118

, it is easy to grasp by an operator of the covering and when it is folded inwardly into the full line position of

FIG. 118

, it does not protrude undesirably from an aesthetic standpoint. Both the pivot arm and the base component of the finger slide are contoured so as to compliment each other and give a smooth exterior look.




Each roller


636


of a shade component


632


, with the exception of the uppermost roller which is mounted as previously described, is mounted on a fixed bracket


788


that is best seen in

FIGS. 107

,


111


and


129


A. The bracket is a single piece bracket having an outer plate


790


with vertically extending guide fingers


792


adapted to engage the inner surface of the outer wall


738


of the channel guide


724


and vertically extending guide plates


794


adapted to engage the inturned lips


726


with the inturned lips being received in vertical grooves


796


formed in the bracket. As is probably best seen in

FIG. 107

, the bracket is, therefore, disposed for positive positioning within the channel guide and is anchored to the channel guide and the associated side frame member with a screw-type fastener


798


that passes through a passage


800


in the center of the bracket. The innermost face of the bracket has a pair of catch plates


802


identical to those previously described that are adapted to releasably receive in a snap-lock manner the tabs on the end cap of the associated roller.




The bottom bracket


804


associated with the left and right side frame members


628


is probably best illustrated in

FIGS. 112

,


115


,


116


,


133


and


134


. The bracket is also designed to fit snugly within the vertical channel guide


724


and has a bottom plate


806


with a screw slot


808


adapted to receive a fastener


810


that can be anchored in the bottom frame member


626


as seen in FIG.


116


. The bottom bracket has an outer plate


812


with outwardly projecting fingers


814


that engage the inner surface of the outer wall


738


of the channel guide and forwardly and rearwardly directed guide plates


816


that engage the inturned lips


726


of the channel guide with the guide plates defining groove


818


therein adapted to receive the inturned lips of the channel guide. The bottom plate projects slightly beyond the fingers


814


on the outer plate


812


so as to underlie the bottom edge of the channel guide thereby cooperating with the screw-type fastener to hold the bracket in position. The bracket defines a downwardly opening pocket


820


that opens through the base plate. The pocket is generally rectangular in cross section having recesses


822


formed in inner and outer sides thereof that are aligned with generally U-shaped channels


824


adapted to receive the stub shafts


826


on a roller


828


of the type illustrated in

FIG. 81

in connection with a different embodiment of the present invention. The roller is adapted to engage the timing belt and is confined within the bottom bracket by the U-shaped grooves and their cooperation with the stub shafts on the roller.




The bottom brackets


804


are also adapted to support a transfer rod


830


that is confined within the bottom frame member


626


and extends horizontally across the base of the frame. The transfer rod has several component parts as best illustrated in

FIGS. 116

,


119


-


122


,


135


and


136


. The transfer rod includes left


832


and right


834


hollow cylindrical members having a longitudinally extending internally disposed key


836


formed therein. The open right end of the right cylindrical member


834


and the open left end of the left cylindrical member


832


receive end caps


838


that protrude into the associated open ends and have a groove


840


that is keyed to the key


836


of the associated cylindrical member. The end caps also have an axially and outwardly extending hexagonal shaft


842


that is mated with a hexagonal axial passageway


844


through the roller


828


mounted in the pocket


820


of the associated bottom bracket. Rotational movement of the roller thereby rotates the shaft on the end cap and also the associated cylindrical member connected thereto. The inner ends of each cylindrical member are spaced adjacent the center of the bottom frame member


626


and are connected by a braking system. The braking system includes an outer sleeve


846


shown in

FIG. 136

that is rotatably mounted in U-shaped grooves


848


in a saddle bracket


850


anchored to the bottom frame member. The left end of the sleeve has an enlarged disk-like cap


852


adapted to engage the outer surface of the saddle and a blind axial hole


854


is provided in the left end of the sleeve that is of generally star-shaped cross section. The blind hole is adapted to receive the shank


856


of a support shaft


858


that has a mating star-shaped cross section so that the two pieces rotate in unison. The opposite end


859


of the support shaft is solid and fits in the open inner end of the left cylindrical member


832


and has a groove


860


formed therein adapted to receive the key


836


in the cylindrical member so that the cylindrical member also rotates in unison with the shaft


858


and the sleeve


846


. The right end of the sleeve has a projection


862


of reduced diameter adapted to be received within the open end of the night cylindrical member and the reduced diameter portion has a groove


864


formed therein adapted to receive the key


836


in the right cylindrical member. An internal partition


866


is formed in the sleeve which is spaced from the end of the shank


856


of the shaft to define a cavity


868


. A compression spring


870


is positioned in the cavity to bias the shaft


858


outwardly or to the left as viewed in FIG.


120


. The spring is provided for assembly purposes so that the hexagonal shafts at opposite ends of the transfer rod can be inserted into the associated rollers by shortening the length of the transfer rod against the bias of the compression spring until the rod is aligned with the rollers in each of the bottom brackets, and at that point the rod is released and the compression spring forces the shaft into a longer length so as to be suitably received in each of the associated rollers.




A two-way spring lock


872


circumscribes the sleeve


846


within the saddle bracket


850


and is adapted to cooperate with a longitudinally extending rib


874


provided on a bottom wall of the saddle bracket to selectively prevent or permit rotation of the rod. The spring lock is a conventional spring clutch or break that has a tong


876


projecting downwardly at opposite ends of the spring that cooperate with the rib


874


. One tong is inclined slightly in one direction and the other tong is inclined slightly in the opposite direction so that they lie on opposite sides of the rib. When the transfer rod is rotated in one direction or the other, one of the tongs engages the rib thereby causing the spring to slightly expand from its neutral gripping relationship with the sleeve so that the transfer rod can rotate freely relative thereto. When rotation is ceased, however, the tongs are no longer engaged with the rib and the spring clutch contracts in diameter to grip the outer surface of the sleeve to prevent rotation of the transfer rod.




The spring clutch thereby functions to hold the shade components in any predetermined position since advancement of a bottom rail downwardly by the finger slide causes the torsion springs


640


within each roller


636


of a shade component


632


to become biased thereby urging the shade components toward a retracted position. Since movement of the slide member is governed by the timing belt, which is also keyed to the transfer rod, once movement of the finger slide is terminated, the spring clutch will prevent the torsion springs in each roller from returning the associated shade component to the retracted position until an operator moves the finger slide upwardly thereby causing the spring brake to release the transfer rod and allow the shade components to retract.




It will be appreciated from the descriptions of the various embodiments of the present invention that a unique covering for an architectural opening has been described and wherein one or more shade components can be utilized to cover selected portions of an architectural opening, such as of the type divided into a plurality of panels by muntins. It will further be appreciated that the entire architectural opening can be covered with a very short stroke of the finger slide which is far less than the entire dimension of the opening defined by the direction of movement of the shade components. It will be appreciated that the shade components can be mounted horizontally as illustrated or vertically and still perform the desired function of selectively covering portions of the architectural openings with individual shade components. It will also be appreciated that the shade components could be inverted so that the roller in each shade component moved up and down while the bottom rail (which would then be on the top) was fixed. Further, with minor modifications within the skill of those in the art, the shade components could be mounted so that they extended upwardly and retracted downwardly as opposed to the reverse which has been described above. This would also be true for other embodiments of the present invention described previously.




Although the present invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure has been made by way of example, and changes in detail or structure may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.



Claims
  • 1. A covering for an architectural opening comprising in combination:a frame adapted to be removably inserted into said architectural opening, said frame including an outer peripheral framework and at least one divider member extending between opposite sides of said peripheral framework so as to define relatively small openings through said frame in comparison to said architectural openings, at least one shade component mounted on said frame and disposed for covering more than one but less than all of said relatively small openings, and a control system for moving at least portions of the shade component between extended and retracted positions relative to each relatively small opening associated with said shade component.
  • 2. The covering of claim 1 wherein said shade component includes an elongated rotatable support rod having a longitudinal axis and a flexible sheet of material adapted to be wrapped around and unwrapped from said support rod, and wherein said control system is operatively connected to said support rod for selectively reversibly rotating said support rod about its longitudinal axis.
  • 3. The covering of claim 2 wherein said control system is operated by a finger slide.
  • 4. The covering of claim 2 wherein said covering is operated by an electric motor.
  • 5. The covering of claim 3 wherein said finger slide is connected to an effectively endless flexible element which is operatively engaged with said support member to rotate said support member about its longitudinal axis upon sliding movement of said finger slide.
  • 6. The covering of claim 5 wherein said flexible element is a beaded chain.
  • 7. The covering of claim 5 wherein said flexible element is a timing belt.
  • 8. The covering of claim 5 wherein said flexible element is a cord.
  • 9. The covering of claim 2 wherein said frame includes cross-frame members and peripheral frame members, said cross-frame members connecting opposing peripheral frame members at spaced locations and wherein said support rods are positioned immediately adjacent to an associated frame member so as to be substantially concealed from view behind the associated frame member when viewed from a predetermined direction.
  • 10. The covering of claim 1 wherein said shade component includes a collapsible curtain having first and second opposite edges, a support for supporting said first edge of the collapsible curtain such that said curtain can be collapsed adjacent to said support and the second edge can be moved away from said support allowing the curtain to be extended away from said support across at least a portion of said peripheral frame, and wherein said control system is operatively connected to said second edge for selectively moving said curtain between the collapsed and extended positions.
  • 11. The covering of claim 10 wherein said control system is a cord/pulley system having at least one cord secured to said second edge of said curtain and a drive member operably connected to said cord for selectively moving the cord and the second edge of said curtain between the collapsed and extended positions.
  • 12. The covering of claim 11 wherein said drive member is manually movable.
  • 13. The covering of claim 11 wherein said drive member is a finger slide.
  • 14. The covering of claim 12 wherein said cord/pulley system includes at least one pulley positioned closer to said first edge than to said second edge of said curtain and wherein said cord extends around said pulley so as to extend perpendicularly between said first and second edges of the curtain.
  • 15. The covering of claim 11 or 14 wherein there are a plurality of said shade components disposed in parallel relationship and wherein said cord/pulley system is operatively connected to each of said shade components for simultaneous movement of the curtains between the collapsed and extended positions.
  • 16. The covering of claim 15 wherein said shade components and control system are mounted in a frame having cross-frame members and peripheral frame members, said cross-frame members connecting opposing peripheral frame members at spaced locations and wherein said supports are positioned immediately adjacent to an associated frame member so as to be substantially concealed from view behind the associated from member when viewed from a predetermined direction.
  • 17. The covering of claim 16 wherein said drive member is mounted on a frame member.
  • 18. The covering of claim 14 herein said first edge is above and in vertical alignment with said second edge of the curtain.
  • 19. The covering of claim 18 wherein said drive member is mounted in a frame member for vertical sliding movement.
  • 20. The covering of claim 19 wherein upward sliding movement of said drive member effects a dropping of said second edge relative to said first edge.
  • 21. The covering of claim 19 wherein downward sliding movement of said drive member effects a dropping of said second edge relative to said first edge.
  • 22. The covering of claim 11 wherein said cord/pulley system includes a first pulley positioned closer to said first edge than to said second edge and a second pulley positioned closer to said second edge than said first edge such that movement of said drive member in either one of two opposite directions positively moves said second edge relative to said first edge.
  • 23. The covering of claim 1 wherein said shade component includes a horizontal support rod, a substantially planar flexible sheet of material, a loop of flexible material secured to said substantially planar sheet of material along a horizontal line of attachment and a weighted rod disposed in said loop of flexible material, said support rod being positionable along said horizontal line of attachment between said substantially planar sheet of material and said loop of material, and wherein said control system includes a rotatable drive rod secured to a lower edge of said substantially planar sheet of material such that rotation of said drive rod causes said substantially planar sheet of material to be wrapped onto or unwrapped from said drive rod, and a drive system for selectively and reversibly rotating said drive rod.
  • 24. The covering of claim 23 wherein there are a plurality of said loops of material secured to said substantially planar sheet of material along vertically spaced horizontal lines of attachment and a plurality of support rods associated with each loop of material.
  • 25. The covering of claim 23 or 24 further including a manually operable slide member for effecting selected reversible rotation of said drive rod.
  • 26. The covering of claim 25 wherein said support rod is mounted in a peripheral frame including guide slots adapted to slidably receive the ends of said weighted rod.
  • 27. The covering of claim 1 wherein said shade component includes a horizontal support rod, a substantially planar flexible sheet of material, a strip of flexible material secured to said substantially planar sheet of material along a horizontal line of attachment and a weighted rod secured to an edge of said strip of material spaced from said line of attachment, said support rod being positionable along said horizontal line of attachment between said substantially planar sheet of material and said strip of material, and wherein said control system includes a rotatable drive rod secured to a lower edge of said substantially planar sheet of material such that rotation of said drive rod causes said substantially planar sheet of material to be wrapped onto or unwrapped from said drive rod, and a drive system for selectively and reversibly rotating said drive rod.
  • 28. The covering of claim 27 wherein there are a plurality of said strips of material secured to said substantially planar sheet of material along vertically spaced horizontal lines of attachment and a plurality of support rods associated with each strip of material.
  • 29. The covering of claim 27 or 28 further including a manually operable slide member for effecting selected reversible rotation of said drive rod.
  • 30. The covering of claim 29 wherein said support rod is mounted in a peripheral frame including guide slots and adapted to slidably receive the ends of said weighted rod.
  • 31. The covering of claim 1 wherein said shade component includes an elongated support member mounted for rotation about a longitudinal axis, first and second strips of material having a first edge secured to said support member and a free second edge, the strips of material being double wrapped on said support member such that when unwrapped therefrom the free edges will move in opposite directions, the free edges of said strips of material each having support bars thereon, and wherein said control system includes a drive member for selectively and reversibly rotating said support member and a cord/pulley system for moving said support bars in opposite directions upon rotative movement of said support member.
  • 32. The covering of claim 31 wherein said drive member is manually operable.
  • 33. The covering of claim 31 or 32 wherein said drive member operates said cord/pulley system and simultaneously rotates said support member.
  • 34. The covering of claim 33 wherein there are a plurality of shade components with the associated support members being in spaced, parallel and substantially coplanar relationship.
  • 35. The covering of claim 34 wherein said drive member simultaneously and synchronistically rotates the support members associated with the respective shade components.
  • 36. The covering of claim 2 wherein there are a pair of said shade components disposed in adjacent side-by-side relationship such that the flexible sheet of material associated with each shade component is adapted to cover the same relatively small openings.
  • 37. The covering of claim 1 wherein there are a plurality of shade components each including an elongated support member mounted for rotation about a longitudinal axis, first and second strips of material having a first edge secured to said support member and a free second edge, the strips of material being double wrapped on said support member such that when unwrapped therefrom the free edges move in opposite directions, the free edges of the first strips of material being secured to the free edges of the second strips of material of an adjacent shade component, and wherein said control system includes a drive member for selectively and reversibly rotating said support members.
  • 38. The covering of claim 37 wherein said drive member is manually operable.
  • 39. The covering of claim 1 wherein said shade component includes an elongated support member reversibly rotatable about a longitudinal axis, a flexible sheet of material having one edge secured to said support member and a second free edge, said sheet being wrappable around said support member, a resilient member for biasing said support member in one rotatable direction, said free edge of said sheet material being operably connected to a cord/pulley system adapted to pull said free edge away from said support member to unwrap said sheet material from said support member and rotate said support member against said bias and said cord/pulley system be adapted to selectively allow said resilient member to wrap said sheet material around said support member.
  • 40. The covering of claim 39 further including a drive member for operating said cord/pulley system.
  • 41. The covering of claim 40 wherein said drive system is manually operable.
  • 42. The covering of claim 39 or 40 wherein there are a plurality of said shade components with the support members associated with each being parallel and substantially coplanar.
  • 43. The covering of claim 42 wherein movement of said strips of material in each shade component is synchronized.
  • 44. The covering of claim 41 wherein said shade component includes an elongated horizontally disposed support member supported at opposite ends in gear housings, vertical support posts operatively connected to each housing, a drive motor and a gear system operatively connecting said drive motor to said support member for reversibly rotating said support member about a horizontal longitudinal axis, a curtain member having one edge secured to said support member so as to be wrappable about said support member and, a weighted member secured to an opposite edge of said curtain member to encourage said curtain member to unwrap from said support member upon rotation of said support member in a predetermined direction.
  • 45. The covering of claim 44 wherein said housings are slidably moveable on said support posts and further including a system for slidably moving said housing along said support posts.
  • 46. The covering of claim 45 wherein said system is a cord/pulley system.
  • 47. The covering of claim 45 or 46 wherein there are a plurality of said shade components such that they can be stacked by said system adjacent the top of said support posts or distributed at vertically spaced locations along the length of said support posts.
  • 48. The covering of claim 1 further including an outer frame, and wherein said shade component includes an elongated horizontal support member rotatably supported by said frame, a strip of flexible sheet like material having a first edge secured to said support member and an opposite edge secured to a weighted member, said strip be adapted to be wrapped on said support member and wherein said weighted member encourages said strip to unwrap from said support member on rotation of said support member in a predetermined direction, and a cord/pulley system operatively connected to said support member to selectively rotate said support member about a longitudinal axis.
  • 49. The covering of claim 48 further including a hand operated drive member as part of said cord/pulley system for operating said cord/pulley system.
  • 50. The covering of claim 48 or 49 wherein there are a plurality of vertically spaced shad components.
  • 51. The covering of claim 50 wherein at least one cord in said cord pulley is wrapped around opposite ends of said support member to effect rotation thereof upon movement of said cord.
  • 52. The covering of claim 1 wherein said peripheral frame is at least partially hollow and wherein said control system is mounted in said hollow portion of said peripheral frame.
  • 53. The covering of claim 53 wherein said peripheral frame has a slot formed therein and wherein said control system includes a finger slide disposed in said slot which is accessible from exteriorly of said peripheral frame.
  • 54. A covering for an architectural opening comprising in combination:a frame adapted to be removably inserted into said architectural opening, said frame including an outer peripheral framework and at least one divider member extending between opposite sides of said peripheral framework so as to define relatively small openings through said frame in comparison to said architectural opening, a first support element extending between opposite sides of said peripheral frame, a second support element extending between opposite sides of said peripheral frame, and being parallel to but not co-linear with said first support element, a drive mechanism for operably moving said support elements; a retractable curtain carried by each of said first and second support elements movable between extended and retracted positions by movement of said support elements, each of said curtains being adapted to cover more than one but less than all of said relatively small openings when fully extended, and a drive member operably connected to said drive mechanism such that said curtains, are simultaneously moved by movement of said drive member.
  • 55. A covering for an architectural opening comprising in combination:a frame adapted to be removably inserted into said architectural opening, said frame including an outer peripheral framework and at least one divider member extending between opposite sides of said peripheral framework so as to define relatively small openings through said frame in comparison to said architectural opening, at least one retractable shade component having a curtain supported by said frame and reversibly moveable in one direction between a retracted position and an extended position wherein an edge of the curtain is moved fully across more than one but less than all of said relatively small openings, and an operating system for moving said curtain between the retracted and extended position through a linear stroke which is less than the full dimension of said architectural opening in said one direction.
  • 56. A covering for an architectural opening comprising in combination:a frame adapted to be removably inserted into said architectural opening, said frame including an outer peripheral framework and at least one divider member extending between opposite sides of said peripheral framework so as to define relatively small openings through said frame in comparison to said architectural opening, a collapsible shade component adapted to cover more than one but less than all of said relatively small openings and having a top rail and a bottom rail with a collapsible curtain therebetween, one of said top rail and bottom rail being fixed to said frame and the other being moveable toward and away from said one of said top rail and bottom rail to effect a retraction and extension of said curtains, and a manually operable slide member operably connected to said moveable one of said top rail and bottom rail and protruding through said outer frame for moving said moveable one of said top rail and bottom rail toward and away from said fixed one of said top rail and bottom rail.
  • 57. The covering of claim 56 wherein said top rail is fixed and said bottom rail is movable.
  • 58. A covering for an architectural opening comprising in combination:an outer frame extending along at least some of the perimeter of said opening, and a plurality of collapsible shade components each having a top rail and a bottom rail with a collapsible curtain therebetween, the bottom rails of each shade component being moveable and the top rail being fixed to said frame with the bottom rail being moveable toward and away from the fixed rail to effect a retraction and extension of said curtains, a common transfer member connected to the bottom rails of each shade component and a manually operable slide member connected to said transfer member such that movement of said slide member effects simultaneous and synchronized movement of said bottom rails.
  • 59. The covering of claim 58 wherein said top rails are removably attached to said frame and said bottom rails are removably connected to said transfer member such that each shade component is replaceable independently of the other shade components.
  • 60. The covering of claim 58 or 59 wherein said transfer member is an endless belt.
  • 61. The covering of claim 60 wherein said endless belt, the fixing of said top rails to the frame, the connection of the bottom rails to the endless belt, and a portion of said slide member are concealed within said outer frame.
  • 62. The covering of claim 59 further including snap-on connectors for achieving said removable attachment of the top rails and the removable connection of the bottom rails.
  • 63. The covering of claim 58 further including a plurality of parallel cross-frame members connected to said,outer frame at spaced locations and wherein said top rails are positioned adjacent to an associated cross-frame member so as to be hidden from view when viewed from a predetermine direction.
  • 64. The covering of claim 63 wherein said top rail, bottom rail and curtain are all positioned adjacent to an associated cross-frame member when the associated shade component is fully retracted such that the top rail, bottom rail and curtain are hidden from view when viewed from a predetermined direction.
  • 65. The covering of claim 63 wherein said cross-frame member is horizontally oriented.
  • 66. A covering for an architectural opening comprising in combination:a frame adapted to be removably inserted into said architectural opening, said frame including an outer peripheral framework and at least one divider member extending between opposite sides of said peripheral-framework so as to define relatively small openings through said frame in comparison to said architectural opening, a plurality of retractable shade components supported by said frame, each shade component being associated with more than one but fewer than all of said relatively small openings and adapted to extend across and be retracted from covering the relatively small openings with which it is associated; and a control system for simultaneously and synchronously moving each of said shade components between extended and retracted positions.
  • 67. The covering of claim 66 wherein each shade component is removable from said covering independently of the other shade components.
  • 68. The covering of claim 67 wherein said shade components are operatively connected to said control system with snap-lock connections.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a non-provisional application claiming priority to provisional application No. 60/159,905 filed Oct. 15, 1999, and 60/217,644 filed Jul. 10, 2000.

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Provisional Applications (2)
Number Date Country
60/159905 Oct 1999 US
60/217644 Jul 2000 US