Patent Application
20080120820
The present invention relates to a method for making expandable slots for blinds.
A conventional blind includes a plurality of parallel slats which are connected by tilt cords and lift cords so that when the user operates the tilt cords or the lift cords, the slats are arranged as designed. However, the conventional slats are made as flat strips which can only block the sunshine but cannot keep the cold outside temperature from entering the interior of rooms. Some blinds manufacturers develop expandable slats which can be expanded as hollow tubular members so as to maintain air in the hollow tubular members. The air in the hollow tubular members forms a thick air curtain to prevent loss of temperature. A conventional method for making the hollow tubular members first folds a strip along a central axis to form an upper and lower adhered sides. Adhesive is then spread on the adhesive sides to connect the adhesive sides and the folded strip is then wrapped on a mandrel. However, due to the arrangements of the mechanical parts of the machine for making the hollow tubular, the upper adhesive side often cannot be attached to the lower adhesive side perfectly. Therefore, when the expandable tubular members are pulled, the shape that the expanded hollow tubular members is not satisfied by the users.
The present invention intends to provide a method for making expandable slats of blinds and the adhesive line is located at a center of the slat so that when the slats are expanded, the adhesive line is pulled in vertical direction so as to ensure the shape of the expandable slats is as desired.
The present invention relates to a method for making expandable slats for blinds, and the method comprises a step of flatting strip to make the strip have have flat upper and bottom surfaces by a first roller set; a step of folding two longitudinal sides of the strip inward by a second roller set and the two longitudinal sides being in contact with each other at a central axis of the strip; a step of pressing the longitudinal sides on the strip by a third roller set; a step of adding adhesive along the two longitudinal sides and the adhesive being on both of the two longitudinal sides so as to form two respective adhesive portions; a step of wrapping strip on a polygonal frame with the adhesive portions facing outward so as to form multiple laminated sections on multiple sides of the polygonal frame, and a step of cutting the laminated sections into sub-sections.
The primary object of the present invention is to provide a method for efficiently making expandable slats for blinds and the two longitudinal sides are adhered with each other and the adhered sides are located at a central axis of the strip.
The present invention will become more obvious from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings which show, for purposes of illustration only, a preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention.
Referring to
a step of flatting strip 10: rolling the strip 10 by a first roller set 20 to make the strip 10 have flat upper and bottom surfaces. Multiple pairs of rollers of the first roller set 20 can be set in the first roller set 20 according practical needs.
a step of folding: folding two longitudinal sides of the strip 10 inward by a second roller set 30 and the two longitudinal sides 11, 12 being in contact with each other at a central axis of the strip 10. The second roller set 30 includes a first unit 31, a second unit 32 and a third unit 33. The first and third units 31, 33 each include two rollers and the strip 10 extends between the two rollers. The two rollers of each of the first and third units 31, 33 are located at an angle relative to a horizontal plane so that the first unit 31 folds the two longitudinal sides of the strip 10 upward and the third unit 31 folds the two longitudinal sides of the strip 10 downward toward the central axis of the strip 10.
a step of pressing: pressing the longitudinal sides 11, 23 on the strip 10 by a third roller set 40;
a step of gluing: adding adhesive along the two longitudinal sides 11, 12 and the adhesive being on both of the two longitudinal sides 11, 12 so as to form two respective adhesive portions 15, 16.
a step of wrapping: wrapping the strip 10 on a polygonal frame 50 and the adhesive portions 15, 16 facing outward so that each of multiple sides of the polygonal frame 50 has a laminated section 60. The adhesive portions 15, 16 adhere the bottom surface of the strip 10 laminated on the adhesive portions 15, 16 so that the outer layer of each of the laminated sections 60 is glued to the lower layer by the adhesive portions 15, 16.
a step of cutting: cutting the laminated sections 60 into sub-sections 61.
When the laminated section 60 is pulled in two opposite directions as shown in
While we have shown and described the embodiment in accordance with the present invention, it should be clear to those skilled in the art that further embodiments may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.
