Structure of a venetian blind

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6234235
  • Patent Number
    6,234,235
  • Date Filed
    Thursday, February 24, 2000
    25 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, May 22, 2001
    24 years ago
  • Inventors
  • Examiners
    • Lev; Bruce A.
    Agents
    • A & J
Abstract
A Venetian blind having a head rail with a plurality of ladder cords and vertical cords vertically mounted and spaced apart therebelow, a plurality of slats being positioned between the ladder cords and the vertical cords formed a shade, the bottom of the head rail being a lower rail, characterized in that the external edge of the head rail is mounted with an upper rail formed from plastic injection molding for enabling cutting the length thereof, the cross-section of the upper rail is substantially “U” shaped and the edges of the upper rail are individually provided with two hook-like edges, and a plurality of holes are provided on the upper rail for the insertion of the ladder cords, the vertical cords, and a lift cord, to thereby provide support for a venetian blind within various sized structural openings.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




a) Technical Field of the Invention




The present invention relates to an improved structure of a Venetian blind, and in particular, to a Venetian blind of simple structure such that the cost of manufacturing is low, and the blind has an aesthetic appearance.




b) Description of the Prior Art





FIG. 1

shows a conventional Venetian blind having a substantially U-shaped head rail


10


formed by bending an iron plate or by plastic molding. The bottom of the head rail


10


is provided with a plurality of ladder cords


11


spaced apart forming a support for a plurality of slats


12


. The bottom of the ladder cord


11


is provided with a heavy rod


13


, and the top of the ladder cord


11


is mounted to a control device


20


to control a control rod


21


of the control device


20


so as to elevate the slats


12


at the sides of the ladder cord


11


. Thus, the tilting angle of the slats


12


is adjusted to allow the amount of sunlight to enter. In addition, a plurality of vertical cords


14


, passing through individual slats


12


, are connected to the heavy rod


13


and one end thereof surrounds the head rail


10


. Due to the positioning device


30


at one side of the head rail


10


extended to the bottom of the blind forming into a lift cord


15


, the heavy rod


13


can be lifted up and the slats


12


are thus stacked one by one. By lowering the heavy rod


13


, the individual slats


12


return to their spaced apart position.




However, there are drawbacks found in this conventional Venetian blind as follows:




1) There are various specifications for the Venetian blind, which are not easily adapted to window of various sizes.




2) In order to comply with the size of the window, various types of head rails have to be made in order to insert the ladder cord


11


, the vertical cord


14


, the lift cord


15


and the control rod


20


. Thus, the cost of manufacturing is increased.




3) The strength of the conventional Venetian blind is insufficient as the head rail


10


is normally made from an iron plate and is bent into a “U” shaped structure. As there are a plurality of holes on the head rail


10


, it cannot withstand heavy weight.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




The present invention relates to an improved structure of a Venetian blind, and in particular, to a Venetian blind of simple structure such that the cost of manufacturing is low, and the blind has an aesthetic appearance.




Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved structure of a Venetian blind having a head rail with a plurality of ladder cords and vertical cords vertically mounted and spaced apart therebelow, a plurality of slats being positioned between the ladder cords, and the vertical cord being formed into horizontal support, the bottom of the head rail being a lower rail, characterized in that the external edge of the head rail is mounted with an upper rail formed from plastic injection molding, and the cross-section of the upper rail is substantially a “U” shape and the edges of the upper rail are individually provided with two hook-like edges, and a plurality of holes are provided on the upper rail for the insertion of the ladder cords the vertical cords and a lift cord, thereby the upper rail of various sizes is adapted to the fixed size head rail.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS





FIG. 1

is a perspective view of a conventional Venetian blind.





FIG. 2

is a perspective exploded view of the head rail and the upper rail of the blind of the present invention.





FIG. 3

is a perspective view of the blind of the present invention.





FIG. 4

is a sectional view of the blind of the present invention.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT




Referring to

FIGS. 2

to


4


, there is shown an improved structure of a Venetian blind of the present invention comprising a head rail


40


mounted externally with an upper rail


50


, a plurality of ladder cords


41


and vertical cords


44


being mounted below the upper rail


50


, and a plurality of slats


42


being provided horizontally on the ladder cords


41


and the bottom section of the blind being a lower rail


43


, wherein the head rail


40


is made into a substantially rectangular box like structure, and the upper rail


50


is made by plastic injection molding. In accordance with the present invention, the shape of the cross-sectional of the upper rail


50


is a substantially U-shaped structure, and at the top edge of two lateral side


51


of the upper rail


50


, an inverted hook-like edge


52


is provided for the mounting with the head rail


40


. On the upper rail


50


, a plurality of holes


53


are provided for the insertion of the ladder cords


41


, the vertical cords


44


, the lift cord


45


and a control rod


61


. The top end of the ladder cord


41


is fixed with a control device


60


such that by rotating the control rod


61


of the control device


60


, the ladder cord


41


at the side of the slats


42


is controlled to tilt so as to change the tilting angle of the slats


42


to allow the sunlight to enter. The vertical cords


44


, passing through the slats


42


, are located in between the head rail


40


and the lower rail


43


, and the bottom ends of the vertical cords


44


are mounted onto the lower rail


43


, and one end of the vertical cord


44


surrounds the head rail


40


. A positioning device


70


mounted at one side of the head rail


40


and the lift cord


45


is mounted to the bottom section of the blind. Thus, the lower rail


43


can be lifted such that the slats


42


are stacked together, or when the lower rail


43


is released, the individual slats


42


are restored to space apart with an interval.




In accordance with the present invention, there are advantages as compared to the conventional Venetian blinds:




1) The size of the Venetian blinds is adaptable to all sizes of windows. The head rail


40


of the present invention is mounted externally with an upper rail


50


, the head rail


40


is made into a fixed size and then is mounted with the upper rail


50


made of different sizes. As the upper rail


50


is made from plastic injection, the making of holes or cutting is simple and quick. Therefore, it suits window of all sizes.




2) The cost of production is low.




 The head rail


40


can be mass produced and therefore the cost of material for manufacturing the head rail


40


is lowered.




3) The strength of the upper rail is strong and the rail possesses an aesthetic appearance.




As the upper rail


50


is made by plastic molding, various types of embossed designs can be made to the upper rail


50


so as to add an aesthetic appearance to the upper rail


50


. In addition, the upper rail


50


is adapted by the head rail


40


which is made from a metallic material, therefore, the strength of the upper rail


50


is increased.




While the invention has been described with respect to a preferred embodiment, it will be clear to those skilled in the art that modifications and improvements may be made to the invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, the invention is not to be limited by the specific illustrative embodiment, but only by the scope of the appended claims.



Claims
  • 1. A venetian blind comprising a head rail, a plurality of spaced apart ladder cords, vertical cords, and a lift cord; a plurality of slats positioned between and connected to said ladder cords, vertical cords, and lift cord forming a shade; said head rail having an elongated U-shaped top section and an elongated U-shaped bottom section; said bottom section having a fixed length along with lift and tilt controls mounted therein, wherein said bottom section is slidably received within the U-shape of said top section; said top section being formed from plastic injection molding to thereby provide means for cutting the length thereof to fit within various sized structural openings; said top and bottom sections each having inwardly extending edges that interengage when the bottom section is within the U-shape of the top section to thereby hold the sections together; said top section further comprising a plurality of holes in a bottom wall wherein said ladder cords, vertical cords, and a lift cord pass from the bottom section through the top section and extend downwardly therefrom, such that the top section supports the bottom section, the ladder cords, vertical cords, and a lift cord, and thereby the shade downwardly therefrom for providing support means for the blind within various sized structural openings.
Priority Claims (1)
Number Date Country Kind
088221196 Dec 1999 TW
US Referenced Citations (10)
Number Name Date Kind
1949653 Moore Mar 1934
4177853 Anderson et al. Dec 1979
5348068 Eisenheimer et al. Sep 1994
5391967 Domel et al. Feb 1995
5505418 Corcoran Apr 1996
5816308 De Hoyos Oct 1998
5845694 Cohen Dec 1998
5975184 Nien et al. Nov 1999
6009931 Peterson Jan 2000
6056035 Laster-Bivens May 2000