Patent Application
20050188800
The present invention relates to window blinds and other window coverings that are trimmed at the time of purchase at retail stores. More particularly, the present invention relates to a clip for bundling louvers (or slats) to simplify and expedite the trimming of blinds at retail stores.
Over the past several years, different approaches have evolved with regard to preparing window blinds and other window coverings such that they have the dimensions needed to cover a particular window for a particular customer. One approach, which has long existed, involves the initial measuring of a window by an installer or decorator in order to determine the appropriate dimensions of the blind. This is followed by an order placed with the manufacturer (or an authorized fabricator), wherein the blind is then built to the particular specifications of the customer's window. The blind is then shipped and eventually installed. While the foregoing procedure normally provides satisfactory results in terms of the customer ultimately obtaining a blind that appropriately fits his or her window, there is an obvious disadvantage to this procedure, namely, the time associated with each of the foregoing steps, whereby it could take one or even several weeks from beginning to end.
Another approach that has been employed involves manufacturing and supplying retail stores with blinds having a number of “stock” sizes. Each blind is provided in a variety of such “stock” sizes, such that the customer can select a blind size that most closely approximates the size of the window to be covered. The drawbacks to this approach have long been self-evident. If a small number of stock sizes are provided, the likelihood of a customer finding a stock size that appropriately fits the customer's window is necessarily reduced. While this problem can be mitigated by providing more and different stock sizes, this necessarily results in the need for retailers to take on greater inventory and provide more shelf space for the blinds in question. These problems are exacerbated by the fact that blinds are typically offered in different colors and styles, and if it is necessary to stock numerous sizes of each color and style, the inventory and shelf space problems will increase accordingly.
A solution to the foregoing problems has led to what is now a popular approach to selling blinds and other window coverings. Under this approach, sometimes referred to as the “size-in-store” system, a relatively small number of stock sizes of each blind is provided to the retail store. The blinds themselves are designed in a manner that the headrails, slats (or other window coverings) and bottom rails can be trimmed at either (or preferably both) ends. This is accomplished by such stock blinds having lifting, tilting and similar mechanisms and cords positioned inwardly from the outer edges of the window coverings, such that the ends can be trimmed to the degree desired without impairing the operation of the window covering.
Such “size-in-store” systems also involves the retail store being provided with a cutdown machine designed to cut the particular blinds or other window coverings. One such cutdown machine is illustrated by U.S. Pat. No. 6,178,857, which is incorporated herein by reference.
While many different types of cutdown machines exist, certain characteristics are common to many if not most such machines. First, they will typically make provision for cutting the headrail, the slats (or other window covering material) and bottom rail of the window covering in question. In certain situations, such as illustrated in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 6,178,857, different approaches and tools are used to cut the headrail, the slats and/or the bottom rail. In some such environments, the three aforesaid major components of a blind must be positioned in different areas of the cutdown machine. Finally, in order for a trimmed window covering to have an attractive finished look, the amount that is cut from each component must be the same to the extent possible, such that it is typically necessary to make certain that all components are lined up appropriately.
This particular problem is especially pronounced in connection with horizontal or a Venetian blind, which will typically have dozens of slats. When trimming the ends of a horizontal blind, it is essential that all of the slats be lined up evenly so that equal amounts of material can be trimmed from each slat.
When trimming slats of a horizontal blind, difficulties often arise when too many slats are bundled together to be trimmed in a single pass by one knife or other cutting device. Accordingly, in some cutdown machines and systems, the slats must be divided into compartments, each accommodating a predetermined number of slats (and, in some instances, a bottom rail that can be cut with the same cutting tool as the slats) It may be necessary for the individual doing the trimming to count up the correct number of slats to go in each compartment just prior to cutting.
In addition, the amount of time spent in trimming blinds will have a bearing on how well the cutdown program will be accepted by retail stores and the consumer. In existing programs, it can take time to organize the components and line them up prior to trimming, particularly if the cord lock becomes disengaged. Once the trimming is completed, it is desirable to repackage the blind as quickly as possible—an objective that can be hard to achieve if the blind is completely disorganized.
The foregoing problems and concerns are particularly pronounced in the environment of a retail store, such as a home improvement store. In those situations, the responsibility for trimming blinds will often rest on a sales associate who will typically be hired with no background or experience in trimming blinds. While training may be offered by the retail store or by the blind supplier, with regard to trimming blinds (as with any other endeavor) there is a learning curve. Moreover, it is not uncommon for retail stores to have turnover in staff, such that sales associates may be asked to trim blinds with little or no training or experience. When mistakes are made in trimming blinds, it is often necessary to discard a blind and start over, thus impacting on the profitability of the program.
Attempts have been made in the past to “bundle” slats together for compressing them and lining them up so they can be trimmed. One makeshift approach has been to take a conventional rubber band and wrap the rubber band around a handful of adjacent slats. However, the prospect of this approach having a satisfactory result is small. First, since compartments in cutdown machines are designed to optimally receive a specific number of slats, it is essential that the sales associate (or whoever is applying the rubber band) count the appropriate number of slats to be enclosed in a rubber band. Moreover, rubber bands are typically available only in standard sizes. Thus, the odds are high that a rubber band (whether in a single loop, or doubled or tripled over) will prove to be too loose or too tight. If the rubber band is too loose, it will serve little purpose in terms of keeping the slats together. If the rubber band is too tight, it will become difficult to line up the slats evenly with each other just prior to insertion into the cutdown machine.
Accordingly, a need has arisen for a system in which these and other problems faced by sales associates at retail stores can be obviated. Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide sales associates with a system in which they need not concern themselves with bundling the correct number of louvers to be inserted together into the cutdown machine. It is a further object of the present invention to facilitate the trimming of louvers in a cutdown machine in a manner that maintains a preselected number of louvers together in the desired proximity, while providing the louvers with sufficient slack as to allow them to be lined up evenly with each other prior to insertion into the cutdown machine.
The present invention addresses the foregoing needs.
One aspect of the present invention provides a clip for holding a preselected number of blind slats in a stack for trimming, in which each of the slats has a preselected width and the stack has a preselected height, such that the preselected width and height define a preselected perimeter. A clip according to the present invention comprises a first enclosure which is sized to accommodate the stack. The clip has first and second ends and an overall length substantially equal to the preselected perimeter of the stack of slats. The first and second ends of the enclosure are releasably attachable to each other.
A further aspect of the present invention comprises a clip for holding a preselected number of blind slats in a stack for trimming, in which each of the sides has a preselected width, and the stack has a preselected height, such that the preselected width and height define a preselected perimeter. The clip comprises first and second enclosures. Each of the first and second enclosures is sized to accommodate the stack and has an overall length substantially equal to the preselected perimeter.
A further aspect of the present invention is directed to an assembly which comprises a plurality of window blind slats, each of the slats having a preselected width and the stack having a preselected height, with the preselected width and height defining a preselected perimeter. A clip comprising a first enclosure is sized to accommodate and surrounds the stack and has first and second ends and an overall length substantially equal to the preselected perimeter of the stack. The first and second ends of the first enclosure are releasably attachable to each other.
The present invention is also directed to a method of producing and trimming a window blind which comprises supplying a blind having a plurality of slats, each of the slats having a predetermined width. A preselected number of such slats are bundled. A releasable clip is applied to the bundle of slats. The bundle of slats is inserted into an opening in a cutdown machine, and the cutdown machine is operated to trim the slats in the bundle. The bundle is withdrawn from the cutdown machine, and the clip is detached from the bundle of slats.
A more complete appreciation of the subject matter of the present invention and the various advantages thereof can be realized by reference to the following detailed description in which reference is made to the accompanying drawings in which:
Referring now to the drawings,
As seen in
A hinge 26 is positioned at approximately the midpoint of the bottom wall 24. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the hinge 26 can be placed in any number of different locations, so long as the hinge allows the first enclosure 12 to be moved between an open position and a closed position to allow the requisite number of slats to be inserted.
The louver clip 10 is preferably made of plastic material. The hinge 26 can consist of a “living hinge,” i.e., an area where the plastic material is thin or weakened. Alternatively, the hinge 26 can be provided in other forms known to those skilled in the art.
The first enclosure 12 also includes a front top wall part 28 which is attached to and preferably integral with front wall 20. As best seen in
Attached to and preferably integral with rear wall 22 is rear top wall part 30. Rear top wall part 30 is preferably positioned at approximately a right angle with the rear wall 22 and points inwardly toward the front wall 20.
The front top wall part 28 includes a latch opening 34. Rear top wall part 30 includes a latch 32 mounted thereon. As can be most advantageously seen in
The front wall 20, rear wall 22, bottom wall 24, front top wall part 28 and rear top wall part 30 define the first enclosure 12. The first enclosure 12 thus has a width measured by the distance between front wall 20 and rear wall 22. That distance should be just slightly greater than the width of the slats of the blind with which the louver clip 20 is to be used.
Similarly, the bottom wall 24 and the front and rear top wall parts 28 and 30 define the height of first enclosure 12. It will be appreciated that, depending on the height of first enclosure 12, a predetermined number of slats from a blind which have been compressed together can be bundled into a stack within first enclosure 12. The width of first enclosure 12 (doubled) and the height of first enclosure 12 (doubled) define the perimeter of first enclosure 12.
Disregarding for the moment the portions of louver clip 10 other than the first enclosure 12, it will be appreciated that if the overall length of first enclosure 12 corresponds to the perimeter of a stack of slats, first enclosure 12 can be wrapped around that stack of blind slats and releasably locked so that movement of the slats is restrained. Because the spacing of front wall 20 and rear wall 22 is sized to be just slightly greater than the width of a blind slat, the slats will have little or no opportunity to slide laterally (i.e., forward or backward as seen in
It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that first enclosure 12 in and of itself (without the additional portions of louver clip 10 which will be discussed momentarily) can and will achieve many of the objectives of the present invention. For example, the bundle of louvers will remain together even if the cord lock becomes disengaged. However, further advantages are achieved by the additional portions of louver clip 10 that are shown in
In particular, in addition to first enclosure 12, louver clip 10 includes second enclosure 14. In all material respects, second enclosure 14 will be the same as first enclosure 12. That is, it includes a front wall 20′ with optional opening 36′, a rear wall 22′ and a bottom wall 24′ having a hinge 26′. It will also include a front top wall part 28′ with a latch opening 34′ connected to front wall 20′, and a rear top wall part 30′ including latch 32′ which engages with latch opening 34′. Each pair of corresponding walls of the first and second enclosures are preferably collinear with each other (e.g., rear walls 22 and 22′), as are hinges 26 and 26′.
First enclosure 12 and second enclosure 14 are connected to each other by central portion 15. All three components are preferably integral with each other. Central portion 15 includes an extended part 16 which extends outwardly from front walls 20 and 20′. As will become apparent shortly, the purpose of this is to accommodate the tilt ladders of the blind that tend to bunch up when the slats are compressed. The extended part 16 includes one or more openings 18. Such openings assist in providing a space for the bunched-up tilt ladders to occupy when the slats of a blind are compressed. In addition, openings 18 reduce the total amount of plastic material needed to manufacture louver clip 10, thus reducing the cost.
It will now be appreciated that the louver clip 10 can be mounted to a preselected number of slats in a blind, with that preselected number corresponding to the number of slats that can be accommodated in the cutting compartments of the cutdown machine to be used, such as compartments 102, 104 in cutdown machine 100 shown in
In mounting the louver clip 10 on a blind, care should be taken to position the first and second enclosures 12 and 14 so that they are on opposite sides of the lift cords and tilt ladders. This will result in the tilt ladder of the blind extending outward from the slats into the area defined by extended part 16 of central portion 15. As seen in
It will be recalled that, as discussed above, certain of the advantages of the present invention can be obtained through a louver clip which includes only the first enclosure 12 and not the second enclosure 14 or the central portion 15. However, as discussed previously, it is necessary for the slats to be positioned in the first enclosure 12 such that the slats may slide about without great difficulty in a sideways direction as seen in
As will now be appreciated, one of the advantages realized by having first enclosure 12 and second enclosure 14 connected by central portion 15 is that by positioning first enclosure 12 and second enclosure 14 on opposite sides of the tilt ladder and lift cord, the louver clip 10 is substantially restrained from moving sideways by the tilt ladder and lift cord.
A louver clip of the present invention such as louver clip 10 can be employed in a method of producing and trimming blinds, including programs where the trimming takes place at retail stores. Initially, the blind is produced or otherwise supplied. The blind will have slats having a predetermined width which is selected to fit within the enclosures of the cutdown machine which is to be used with the blind. It is also necessary to determine a preselected number of slats that will be accommodated within the appropriate cutting compartment of the cutdown machine in question. This preselected number of slats is compressed or bundled together. A releasable clip of the type disclosed herein is applied to the bundle of slats. Depending on the height of the blind, it may be necessary to bundle a second of the preselected number of slats and apply a second releasable clip to that bundle, and so forth.
It will be appreciated that all of the steps just described can be done at the factory, and the blind can be placed into the package in which it will be shipped to the retail store with the releasable clip(s) of the present invention in place.
When a customer selects a blind at the retail store and wishes to have it trimmed, the sales associate or other operator can then remove the blind (including the releasable clip(s)) from the package. At this juncture, there is no need for the sales associate to count or bundle the appropriate number of slats for insertion into the cutdown machine, as that will have already been done for the sales associate. It will only be necessary to align the slats with each other (and with the headrail and bottom rail as may be required by the particular cutdown machine), which can be accomplished because the slats can move about longitudinally within the louver clip. The associate can then insert the bundle of slats into the appropriate opening in the cutdown machine, after which the cutdown machine is operated to trim the bundle of slats, and the bundle is then withdrawn from the cutdown machine. As discussed above, the louver clip 10 expedites and simplifies the trimming process. At this juncture, the clip will still be attached to the bundle of slats.
If desired, the louver clip 10 can be removed from the bundle of slats immediately after trimming and before repackaging the blind, in which event, the blind is ready to be mounted as soon as the customer gets it home. If the louver clip is removed at the retail store, it can be returned to the factory and reused with another blind. Alternatively, the louver clip(s) can be left on the blind when it is repackaged, which will simplify the repackaging. In addition, some customers may find that mounting a blind is made somewhat easier by virtue of the louver clip keeping the slats together during the mounting process. The customer can remove and discard the louver clip, either before or after mounting the blind.
Although the invention herein has been described with reference to particular embodiments, it is to be understood that these embodiments are merely illustrative of the principles and applications of the present invention. It is therefore to be understood that numerous modifications may be made to the illustrative embodiments and that other arrangements may be devised without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.
