1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to accessory for suspending curtains, drapes, or the other sheet-like material from a support rod or bar and more particularly to such a device with improved characteristics.
2. Description of Related Art
Curtain suspension devices are well known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,494,248 discloses a hanging material such as curtain having openings each with a slit therein for attachment to a fixed rod. Each opening is reinforced with rings having projecting flanges extending beyond the ring away from the curtain. The flanges make it easy to open up the ring thereby facilitating the placement of the curtain upon the fixed rod.
But this is unsatisfactory for the purpose for which the invention is concerned for the following reason: A manual mounting of the curtain upon the rod by closing respective rings is required and it is undesirably time consuming and inconvenient. Thus, the need for improvement still exists.
It is therefore one object of the invention to provide a device for suspending a curtain, a drape, or the other sheet-like material from a support rod or bar in a time saving and secure manner when mounting.
The above and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken with the accompanying drawings.
Referring to
The ring 1′ further comprises a pivotal member 2 has a curved edge 21 at one end adapted to matingly engage with the rounded edge 14, a hole 22 at the other end, and a curved main body 23; and a spring (e.g., coil spring) 3 provided at the recess 12 by inserting a pivot pin (not shown) through the holes 22 and 13. As a result, the pivotal member 2 is implemented as a spring biased member.
The ring 1′ is closed prior to mounting over a support rod 4 having two ends fixedly secured to, for example, a wall. An individual may pivot the pivotal member 2 clockwise to open the ring 1′ (see
The suspended material f is pleated as shown in
Referring to
The device is implemented as a plurality of rings 5 secured to an upper edge (i.e., hem) of a suspended material (e.g., curtain) f by, for example, stitching. The ring 5 is also made of flexible plastics and is strong enough to support the suspended material f. The ring 5 has a shaped edge 51 at one end, the edge 51 having a projection 511, and a shaped edge 52 at the other end, the edge 52 having a cavity 521. The projection 511 is adapted to snugly fit in the corresponding cavity 521 for closing the ring 5.
The ring 5 is closed prior to mounting over a support rod 6 having two ends fixedly secured to, for example, a wall. An individual may pull both edges 51, 52 away from each other to form a mouth 53 (i.e., open the ring 5) (see
Advantageously, the curtain in either embodiment is adapted to move easily and freely along the support rod so as to provide a barrier or for decorative purposes. Still advantageously, the curtain in either embodiment can be suspended from the support rod in one mounting operation so as to save time.
While the invention herein disclosed has been described by means of specific embodiments, numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention set forth in the claims.