The disclosure relates to a pull cord safety device, and more particularly to a pull cord safety device for a window covering.
To prevent a pull cord used in a window covering from being played by children and being wrapped around a child's neck, U.S. Pat. No. 9,074,409 proposes a pull cord safety device, which is suitable for being assembled to a window covering and which includes a safety unit for a pull cord to extend therethrough. The safety unit includes a plurality of horizontally spaced-apart front and rear connection segments to block the pull cord from being pulled out and played by children. However, every two adjacent front connection segments and every two adjacent rear connection segments form a rectangular hole that has relatively high two lateral sides, which can allow a child's finger to pull out the pull cord from the rectangular hole. Therefore, the pull cord safety device is unsafe and can lead to a potential hazard in use. Although increasing density of the front and rear connection segments can minimize the height of the rectangular holes thereof, manufacture cost of the pull cord safety device can be increased.
As shown in
For each barrier unit 120, because adjacent front and rear barrier ropes 121, 122 respectively and obliquely intersect with each other, lateral heights of holes formed by the front and rear barrier ropes 121, 122 are reduced. However, because the front barrier ropes 121 are disposed entirely at the front of the pull cord 2 and the rear barrier ropes 122 are disposed entirely at the rear of the pull cord 2, the pull cord is movable randomly in the left-right direction and therefore is ineffectively positioned. The child's finger is still able to enter the holes to pull out the pull cord 2 from a wider spacing between the front barrier ropes 121.
On the other hand, if two pull cords 2 are disposed within barrier units 120, because the front barrier ropes 121 are entirely at the front of the two pull cords 2 and the rear barrier ropes 122 are entirely at the rear of the two pull cords 2, the two pull cords 2 will be moved close to and entangled with each other. Therefore, the aforesaid pull cord safety device is suitable only for a single pull cord, and the usage thereof is limited.
Therefore, an object of the disclosure is to provide pull cord safety device that can alleviate at least one of the drawbacks of the prior art.
According to the disclosure, a pull cord safety device includes at least one pull cord extending in a top-bottom direction and a safety unit allowing extension of the at least one pull cord therethrough. The safety unit includes a plurality of battier units disposed along the top-bottom direction. Each of the battier units includes two front barrier ropes and two rear barrier ropes.
The front barrier ropes extend obliquely in a left-right direction and across the at least one pull cord. Each of the front barrier ropes has at least one front portion extending across and at the front of the at least one pull cord, and a first intersection portion connected to the at least one front portion.
The rear barrier ropes extend obliquely in the left-right direction and across the at least one pull cord. Each of the rear barrier ropes has at least one rear portion extending across and at the rear of the at least one pull cord, and a second intersection portion connected to the at least one rear portion and intersecting the first intersection portion at the front of the first intersection portion.
Other features and advantages of the disclosure will become apparent in the following detailed description of the embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:
Before the disclosure is described in greater detail, it should be noted that where considered appropriate, reference numerals or terminal portions of reference numerals have been repeated among the figures to indicate corresponding or analogous elements, which may optionally have similar characteristics.
Referring to
Each barrier unit 300 includes two front barrier ropes 33 extending obliquely in a left-right direction and across the pull cord 4, and two rear barrier ropes 34 extending obliquely in the left-right direction and across the cord 4. One of the rear barrier ropes 34 intersects with one of the front barrier ropes 33.
Each front barrier rope 33 has a first end portion 331, a second end portion 332, a front portion 333 and a first intersection portion 334. The first end portion 331 connects the first lateral rope 31. The second end portion 332 connects the second lateral rope 32. The first intersection portion 334 is disposed between the first and second end portions 331, 332. The front portion 333 is proximal to the first end portion 331. Particularly, the front portion 333 is disposed between the first intersection portion 334 and the first end portion 331 and extends across and at the front of the pull cord 4. The first intersection portion 334 is connected to the front portion 333 and the second end portion 332.
Each rear barrier rope 34 has a third end portion 341, a fourth end portion 342, a rear portion 343 and a second intersection portion 344. The third end portion 341 connects the first lateral rope 31. The fourth end portion 342 connects the second lateral rope 32. The second intersection portion 344 is disposed between the third and fourth end portions 341, 342. The rear portion 343 is proximal to the third end portion 341. Particularly, the rear portion 343 is disposed between the second intersection portion 344 and the third end portion 341 and extends across and at the rear of the pull cord 4. The second intersection 344 is connected to the rear portion 343 and the fourth end portion 342, and intersects the first intersection portion 334 at the front of the first intersection portion 334.
For each barrier unit 300, a first width 35 between the first end portions 331 of the front barrier ropes 33 is smaller than a second width 36 between the second end portions 332 of the front barrier ropes 33. Moreover, for each barrier unit 300, a third width 37 between the third end portions 341 of the rear barrier ropes 34 is greater than a fourth width 38 between the fourth end portions 342 of the rear barrier ropes 34. The first width 35 is equal to the fourth width 38. The second width 36 is equal to the third width 37.
During assembly of the pull cord safety device of the disclosure to the window covering 5, each of the first and second lateral ropes 31, 32 has at least one end fixedly connected to the curtain 51. The pull cord 4 is arranged to consecutively extend through the barrier units 300 in the top-bottom direction 40 in such a manner that the front portion 333 of each front barrier rope 33 is disposed at the front of the pull cord 4 and the rear portion 343 of each rear barrier rope 34 is disposed at the rear of the pull cord 4. Because the second intersection portion 344 of each rear barrier rope 34 intersects and is disposed at the front of the first intersection portion 334 of the respective front barrier rope 33, after the pull cord 4 extends through the barrier units 300, the first and second intersection portions 334, 344 are situated substantially on a middle line 39 that extends midway between the first and second lateral ropes 31, 32, and the pull cord 4 is limited between the middle line 39 and the first later rope 31. In such a way, the pull cord 4 is limited from randomly moving along the left-right direction, thus increasing difficulties for children to pull out the pull cord 4 from the barrier units 300. Therefore, the safeness of the pull cord safety device of the disclosure is enhanced.
In the description above, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific details have been set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that one or more other embodiments may be practiced without some of these specific details. It should also be appreciated that reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” an embodiment with an indication of an ordinal number and so forth means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic may be included in the practice of the disclosure. It should be further appreciated that in the description, various features are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure and aiding in the understanding of various inventive aspects, and that one or more features or specific details from one embodiment may be practiced together with one or more features or specific details from another embodiment, where appropriate, in the practice of the disclosure.
While the disclosure has been described in connection with what are considered the exemplary embodiments, it is understood that this disclosure is not limited to the disclosed embodiments but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.