Patent Application
20140014281
The present invention relates generally to a roller shade used to as a window covering. More particularly, the present invention relates to a mechanism for providing a spring biased counterbalance for the roller shade.
Roller shades are used to provide a window covering that selectively allows privacy and/or limits light coming through a window. As windows are sometimes desired to be covered and uncovered, shades may be moved from a covering position to an unobstructed position by rolling the roller shade to a raised position.
The roller shades may be manually operated by a user or in other instances may be operated by an electric motor. In order to reduce the amount of effort that a user or a motor must exert to operate the roller shade, a spring counterbalancing system may be used to mitigate the effects of the weight of the shade when moving the roller shade up or down.
In order for the counterbalancing mechanism to be effective, it may be desirable to pretension the counter balancing mechanism to a desired tension level in order to provide an appropriate amount of force to exert in counterbalancing the weight of the shade.
Pretensioning the counterbalancing mechanism may be above the ability of the average user of a roller shade. As such, the pretensioning step may be desired to be accomplished at the factory before the roller shade reaches the consumer and/or ultimate user.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a method and/or apparatus that permits a counterbalancing mechanism in a roller shade to be pretensioned at the factory so that when the consumer takes possession of the roller shade, an appropriate amount of tension has been applied in the counterbalancing mechanism.
The foregoing needs are met, to a great extent, by certain embodiments in accordance with the present invention, wherein in one aspect an apparatus is provided that in some embodiments a mechanism is provided that allows a counterbalancing mechanism to be pretensioned. In other embodiments, a method is provided which includes pretensioning a counterbalancing mechanism.
In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, a roller shade is provided. The roller shade may include: a roller; an axle located in the roller; an adjustable counterbalancing mechanism configured to counter balance a rotation of the roller wherein the counterbalancing mechanism is configured to impart a rotational force on the roller and the rotational force is adjusted by rotating the axle; and a locking mechanism attached to the roller and configured to lock the axle at a given angular orientation, wherein the locking mechanism includes a shear pin.
In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, a method of tensioning a counterbalancing mechanism may be provided. The method may include: mounting the counterbalancing mechanism to a shaft; mounting the lock wheel to the shaft; turning the shaft to tension the counterbalancing mechanism; and inserting a shear pin into a hole in the lock wheel to lock the shaft in place.
In accordance with yet another embodiment of the present invention, a roller shade may be provided. The roller shade may include: means for rolling; means for rotatabling supporting the means for rolling; means for counterbalancing configured to counter balance a rotation of the means for rolling wherein the means for counterbalancing is configured to impart a rotational force on the means for roll and the rotational force is adjusted by rotating the mean for rotatabling supporting the means for rolling; and means for locking attached to the means for rolling and configured to lock the means for rotatabling supporting the means for rolling at a given angular orientation, wherein the means for locking includes a means for fusing.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, certain embodiments of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof herein may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are, of course, additional embodiments of the invention that will be described below and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of embodiments in addition to those described and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein, as well as the abstract, are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception upon which this disclosure is based may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
The invention will now be described with reference to the drawing figures, in which like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout. An embodiment in accordance with the present invention provides a blind assembly that includes a counterbalancing mechanism that can be pretensioned to a desired level of tensioning.
The blind material 20 is rolled around and attached to a spool 40. The spool 40 may be referred to, in some instances, as a shade roll 40. The spool 40 typically surrounds the motor assembly 30 battery or power source 34 and other internal components of the blind assembly 10. The spool 40 provides a surface for the blind material 20 to be mounted to and to wrap around. The blind material 20 may wrap in several layers around the spool 40. The several layers of blind material 20 may be referred to as wrapping 42. As illustrated in cut out 28, a counterbalance spring assembly 44 may also be included in the blind assembly 10. The counterbalance spring assembly 44 may be contained within the spool 40.
The power spring 49 is also shown in
The power spring 49 and some embodiments is pretensioned by turning the rotation disk 54 in the opposite direction the power spring 44 is urging the shaft 64 to rotate, which in turn, rotates the shaft 64 in the opposite direction the power spring 49 is biasing the shaft 64. This rotation will increase the tension in the power spring 49. This tensioning of the power spring 49 will provide a counterbalance for the weight of the line material 20, allowing the rotation of the spool 40 to be done relatively easily.
As mentioned above, the blind material 20 is not rotated off the spool 40 until the shear pin 62 is either removed or broken by a user. Once the shear pin 62 has been removed or broken by a user, the force of the power spring 49 no longer checked by the shear pin 62, but is rather checked by the weight of the line material 20, as shown, for example, in
The many features and advantages of the invention are apparent from the detailed specification, and thus, it is intended by the appended claims to cover all such features and advantages of the invention which fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and variations will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation illustrated and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.
