Bottom and top stacking venetian type blind with fixed headrail tilt

A bottom stacking and top stacking venetian type blind has a fixed headrail containing a tilt mechanism which tilts the lift cords as well as the movingrail and bottomrail, maintains the centerline plane and center of gravity in the same place throughout the operation of the blind, and provides cord locks for the two sets of lift cords. This blind consists of the fixed headrail containing both tilting and lifting mechanisms; a one-piece or two-piece movingrail; a one-piece or two-piece bottomrail; and a plurality of slats which rest on ladders between the bottomrail and movingrail. The ladders are typically made of cord, but the hardware of this blind will also accommodate fabric tape or sheet ladders. There will always be at least one pair of lift cords which control the movingrail; one cord in the front, and one in the rear. The bottomrail will also have two lift cords passing through, one on each side, if it is a single rail; or four cords for a double rail. A preferred embodiment contains an axle driven cord collecion system.

FIELD OF INVENTION 
This invention relates to venetian type blinds which can be stacked and 
deployed from the top down as are common, or stacked and deployed from the 
bottom up. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
Venetian blinds consist of a plurality of horizontal slats. These slats 
rest on ladders made of cord, fabric tape, or flexible sheets of sheer 
material. Blinds have a headrail and bottomrail, the bottomrail being 
either one solid rail or two parallel rails connected by a cord. The 
blinds have a lift cord or cords, traditionally connected from the 
bottomrail through route holes in the slats, to a lift mechanism or cord 
lock in the headrail. Another arrangement is provided in my U.S. Pat. No. 
5,763,051, in which lift cords are placed proximate to the front and rear 
edges of the slats, and tiny notches or slots are made in the slats for 
the lift cords to pass through from the bottomrail into the headrail. 
Blinds are raised to stack slats at the top by pulling the lift cords 
through a cord lock, which locks into place by pulling the lift cords 
laterally to catch the lock and then back to set the lock. Alternately, an 
axle driven cord collection system may be used for one or more sets of 
lift cords in place of a cord lock. 
In U.S. Pat. No. 7408, Bohrer describes a venetian blind in which all slats 
can be stacked at the bottomrail by means of a pulley assembly. He 
introduced a movingrail which houses a tilt mechanism and to which the 
ladders are connected to hold the slats. The operator lifts the movingrail 
by pulling a lift cord through a pulley assembly, then hooking the cord 
onto cleats. This design tilts the slats by pulling a tilt cord connected 
to a tilt mechanism in the movingrail which twists the movingrail and is 
difficult to operate. The lift cords must be pulled and cleated at an 
angle to the wall, creating a less streamlined, less neat appearance. 
A similar blind is described by Rose in U.S. Pat. No. 12,695. Rose uses a 
fixed headrail and a movingrail and provides a complex series of hooks and 
cords to lock the movingrail into place at the headrail. This facilitates 
the tilting of the slats relative to the movingrail by holding it steady. 
The mechanism, however, is complicated and uses several pieces of 
additional hardware not necessary in traditional venetian type blinds. It 
also requires the blind to be lifted to the headrail to be tilted. 
In U.S. Pat. No. 2,223,640, Kwon describes a blind which also uses a 
movingrail, but with a different lifting and tilting mechanism. The blind 
is raised from a bottom-stacked position by pulling and cleating two sets 
of tilt/lift cords simultaneously; the blind is tilted by pulling one set 
of the cords more than the other. This arrangement requires two-hand 
operation of the blind, which is difficult in many room settings. It also 
involves shifting the center of gravity of the blind away from or toward 
the window, causing a gap between the tilted blind and the window in the 
first case and causing the stack to drag on the wall or the window in the 
second case. 
Most recently, Levert et al. describe an upwardly deployed blind in U.S. 
Pat. No. 5,443,108. This design consists of a fixed headrail, a 
movingrail, and a bottom rail. The tilt assembly is again placed on the 
movingrail. The blind is raised from a bottom-stacked position by pulling 
a drawstring in the headrail connected to a cord lock. To tilt the blind, 
a tilt bar on the movingrail is used. This reduces the twist of the 
movingrail somewhat, but is very bulky and is potentially awkward to 
operate because the movingrail is constantly changing position relative to 
the operator. 
These previous inventions are all attempts to fill a need for 
bottom-and-top stacking venetian type blinds, which will allow the 
operator ease in cleaning and more choices as to how to stack the blind 
for the desired combination of light passage and privacy. There is a need 
for a venetian blind which can accomplish stacking the slats at the 
headrail or the bottomrail without the unsightly addition of wall-mounted 
cleats and cords hanging at an angle; without additional, complex 
hardware; and without a shift in the center of gravity which causes the 
blind to hang at an awkward angle to the window. In addition, there is a 
need to create a bottom-and-top stacking venetian blind with simple 
one-hand operation of the lifting and tilting mechanism and with optimum 
position and leverage of both lifting and tilting mechanisms for the 
convenience of the user. Ideally, this blind will also require a minimum 
of additional hardware that will serve for the design options using slats 
with route holes and a centerline lift cord, a lift cord system with 
hidden holes in the rear of the slats, or slats with no holes and an edge 
lift system. Also the blind should be able to utilize cord ladders, fabric 
tape ladders, or sheer material sheet ladders. Overall, there is still a 
need for an easily operated, neat-looking, bottom-and-top stacking 
venetian type blind with several style options. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
I provide a venetian type blind with a fixed headrail containing a tilt 
mechanism. This tilt mechanism tilts the lift cords which support the 
movingrail. In turn, the blind is tilted via the ladders which run from 
the movingrail to the bottomrail. This tilt mechanism maintains the 
centerline plane and center of gravity in the same place throughout the 
operation of the blind. I provide for either cord locks for the two sets 
of lift cords of the blind, or for a cord lock and an axle driven cord 
collection system. This blind consists of the fixed headrail with both 
tilting and lifting mechanisms; a one-piece or two-piece movingrail; a 
one-piece or two-piece bottomrail; and a plurality of slats which rest on 
ladders between the bottomrail and movingrail. The ladders are typically 
made of cord, but the hardware of this blind will also accommodate fabric 
tape or sheet ladders. There will always be at least one pair of lift 
cords which control the movingrail; one cord in the front, and one in the 
rear. Two pairs of lift cords will be used if the movingrail is a double 
rail. The bottomrail will also have at least two lift cords passing 
through, one on each side, if it is a single rail; or four cords for a 
double rail. The single pair of lift cords may pass through route holes in 
the center or on the back edges of the slats to the bottomrail. 
Alternately, four lift cords could be used, one pair on each side passing 
through notched slats to the bottomrail in an edge lift system. The blind 
is lifted from a bottom-stacked position by raising the movingrail using 
the lift cords which are attached to the movingrail. The blind may be 
partially raised and partially or fully stacked at any point between the 
headrail and bottomrail by locking the movingrail into the desired 
position and adjusting the bottomrail if desired. The blind may also be 
stacked at the top and deployed downward by first raising the movingrail, 
then using the bottomrail lift cords to raise the bottomrail, stacking the 
slats between the bottomrail and movingrail. The blind can even be 
deployed downward from this position by using the movingrail cords. 
A preferred tilt mechanism in the fixed headrail uses a disk or bar through 
which a set of lift cords is connected to the movingrail. To tilt the 
blind, the disk or bar is rotated, and the lift cords are moved together 
by raising either the front lift cord or the rear lift cord while lowering 
the other. The movingrail tilts as the lift cords are moved; if a double 
rail is used, one side is raised as the other is lowered just as with the 
lift cords. The slats then tilt to the front or rear accordingly. A 
variation of this tilt mechanism is shown which can be used in blinds 
which require a very short headrail. This variation provides cord locks 
which shift laterally in equal but opposite directions, tiling the lift 
cords. The movingrail will tilt, and the entirety of the blind tilts 
accordingly. 
There are several distinct advantages of my new venetian type blind which 
set it apart from those attempted earlier. The tilt mechanism shifts the 
weight of the blind while maintaining the center of gravity rather than 
lifting the weight, which would cause a shift in the center of gravity. 
The distance of the blind from the window is therefore the same when 
tilted in either direction. The tilt and lift controls may operate 
independent of one another, are both in a fixed position at the headrail 
which is the optimum position relative to the operator, and can both be 
operated with simple one-hand controls. The tilt and lift systems of the 
movingrail can also be controlled simultaneously on a monocontrol axle 
driven cord collection system if desired. Furthermore, by containing all 
the lifting and tilting hardware in one fixed headrail, the same hardware 
can be used "as is" in the traditional and new types of blinds, such as 
the centerline lift cord system, the hidden holes lift system, the edge 
lift system, a fabric tape ladder design, and a fabric sheet ladder 
design. A manufacturer will not need to produce or purchase a new and 
expensive hardware system to make any of these types of blinds or any 
combination of these blind elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
The first preferred embodiment, as best shown in FIGS. 1-4, 11, and 12, has 
a fixed headrail 2 housing tilt mechanism, a movingrail 3 having a front 
rail 4 and a rear rail 5 which can be seen most clearly in FIGS. 3 and 4, 
and a bottomrail 6 having front 7 and rear 8 rails. A set of slats 9 are 
positioned between the bottomrail and the movingrail on a set of cord 
ladders 10 which support the slats. The cord ladders 10 consist of front 
rails 11, rear rails 12, and rungs 13 on which the slats rest. A first set 
of at least one but preferably two pairs of lift cords 21-24 extend from 
the movingrail through the headrail. A second set of two or more lift 
cords 51, 52 extend from the bottomrail through the headrail. These 
elements will be discussed further herein. 
The movable body of the blind consists of the movingrail 3, bottomrail 6, 
and slats 9 which are positioned therebetween. I prefer to use a two-piece 
movingrail and bottomrail although both the movingrail and the bottomrail 
can be one-piece or two-piece. The number of lift cords may vary from two 
for a single rail to four or more for a double rail. For illustration 
purposes, the drawings show only six slats. Any number of slats, most 
likely more than six, will be used. The slats shown are symmetric to a 
horizontal plane passing through the front and back edges of the slat. 
Other types of slats, such as crowned, s-shaped, or asymmetrical slats, 
may be used instead of the flat slats. The slats are suspended on a cord 
type ladder 10. A third ladder that is not accompanied by lift cords is 
shown. More ladders and lift cords may be used for wider or heavier 
blinds. Ladder rungs are preferably groups of two to four cords. As shown 
in FIGS. 1 and 2, the bottom ends of the ladders are knotted within the 
bottomrails 7, 8, and are covered by plugs 15. If desired, cord ladders 
could be replaced with fabric tape ladders or sheets of flexible material. 
Cord 17 is provided to tie the movingrails and bottomrails 7, 8 together 
to prevent flaring out. 
One set of four lift cords 21-24 passes from the movingrail 3 through the 
headrail and into a cord lock. These lift cords support and control the 
movingrail thereby transferring the tilting motion of the tilt mechanism. 
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the lift cords 21-24 originate in the 
movingrail and extend through the headrail. Only one cord is needed on 
each side of a single movingrail; however, I prefer the two-piece 
movingrail as shown in FIGS. 3,4, and 11. Lift cords 21 and 23 extend from 
the front movingrail into the headrail. Cords 22 and 24 extend from rear 
movingrail through the headrail. Each pair of lift cords 21, 22 and 23, 24 
is threaded through the headrail 2 where they are supported by the tilt 
mechanism. 
FIGS. 1-4 and 10-12 show the tilt mechanism. The tilt assembly is supported 
by cradles 50. The lift cords 21-24 pass through the disk 40 at the disk 
cord guides 42, then pass through the tilt rod centering cord guide 41. 
The cords from the left side 23, 24 pass through the center disk, the 
right disk, the right tilt rod cord guide, and finally extend over a 
pulley 27 and into a cord lock 28 provided in the headrail. Preferably, 
the cord lock is always engaging the lift cords unless the blind is being 
raised or lowered. A support plate 30 is provided to attach the cord lock 
28 to the headrail 2. Support 32 holds pulley 27 in place. The lift cords 
21-24 pass through this lifting and tilting assembly to a position outside 
the headrail 2 at one end of the blind, in this case the right side. The 
distal end of the lift cords may be tied together in a ball connector 34. 
If desired a pull cord 36 having a tassel 38 may be connected to the ball 
connector 34. 
This design requires a additional set of lift cords 51, 52 to lift and 
control the bottomrail. I prefer to use one pair of lift cords in a 
centerline system. However, more may be needed if the bottomrail is 
composed of two pieces, which is an option of an edge lift system, or if 
the blind is large or heavy. As shown in FIGS. 1, 3, 4, 5, and 9, two 
centerline lift cords 51, 52 originate at the bottomrail and are threaded 
through route holes in each slat 9, over a roller 57 and through a hole in 
the center of the cradle 50. The cords are routed through the headrail 2 
where they pass through a cord lock 128. Preferably, the cord lock is 
always engaging the lift cords unless the blind is being raised or 
lowered. The pair of cords extend from the cord lock 128 to a position 
outside the headrail 2 at the opposite end from the movingrail lift cords 
21-24. The distal end of the lift cords 51, 52 may be tied together in a 
ball connector 44. If desired a pull cord 45 having a tassel 47 may be 
connected to the ball connector 44. 
To distinguish the bottomrail cords from the movingrail cords, an axle 
driven cord collection system may be used for either set of the lift cords 
while the pulley and cord lock arrangement can be used for the other set. 
I prefer to use this system for the lift cords of the movingrail due to 
advantages which are described herein. As shown in FIG. 15, the axle 
driven cord collection system is comprised primarily of the of the lift 
axle 49, the spools 123, a gear drive train 126, a clutch or releasable 
brake 129, a sprocket 65 and control cord or chain 67. The spools are 
mounted directly around the lift axle and each carry a pair of movingrail 
lift cords. However, only one lift cord 21, 23 can be seen for each spool 
in FIG. 15. I prefer that the axle 49 have a non-round cross section and 
fit through a matching longitudinal bore in the threaded spools 53. The 
lift axle 49 runs through the tilt disks 40 directly above the tilt rod 46 
on the radius that is perpendicular to the diameter that includes the lift 
cord guide ring 42. The lift axle 49 is aligned and connected to the tilt 
rod 46 via the disks and the axle coupler 69. For those disks located near 
pairs of lift cords, a collar 125 having internal threads extends from the 
disk and encircles the spool 123. The disks and attached collars are 
restrained from axial movement along the lift axle 49 and tilt rod 46. 
Tilt mechanism 120 turns axle 46 to turn discs 40 moving axle 49 through 
an arc normal to the axle. That movement lifts the front movingrail lift 
cords and lowers the back movingrail lift cords or vice versa to tilt the 
movingrail 4. Tilting the movingrail 4 causes the ladders 10 to tilt the 
slats 9. Rotation of axle 49 will cause the threaded spools to rotate and 
because they are engaged with the threads of the collars 125, the spools 
will move laterally. When axle 49 is rotated counterclockwise the lift 
cords will be wound onto the threaded spools 123 and the spools will move 
from right to left. When the axle 49 is rotated clockwise, the lift cords 
will be unwound and the threaded spools 123 will move from left to right. 
The axle 49 is rotated by pulling a cord or chain control 67 which turns 
the sprocket 65. The sprocket 65 is connected through the clutch or 
releasable brake 129 to the gear drive train 126 and thus to the axle 49. 
I prefer that the lift system be configured to provide a 2:1 gear ratio. 
Motors and other gear arrangements and drives can be used. Each spool 
collects one pair of lift cords in this embodiment, but could also collect 
just a single cord. The cords wind around the spool so that the lift cord 
extending from the front is wound adjacent to the lift cord extending from 
the rear as shown in FIG. 15. Thus, turning of the drive axle 49 will 
raise or lower the lift cords in the front and the back at the same time. 
To lower the blind, the other side of the control cord 67 is pulled to 
reverse the direction of rotation of axle 49 and unwind the cords from the 
spools. A tube lift mechanism such as is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 
5,184,660 can be adapted for this embodiment. 
The use of the axle driven cord collection system will provide particular 
advantages when used as the system for controlling the lift cords of the 
movingrail. For instance, the axle driven cord collection system provides 
far greater support for the weight of the blind as compared to pulleys and 
cord locks. Since the movingrail is generally locked in position at some 
raised point so that the user may achieve some privacy, there is usually 
some load being supported by the lift cords of the movingrail. The axle 
driven cord collection system provides a support system for these lift 
cords, which helps reduce wear and tear on the cords as they hold the load 
of the blind. In addition, the mechanical advantage provided by the gear 
drive train and cord control will help the operator to raise the 
movingrail and the blind more easily, especially in the case of large or 
heavy blinds. Finally, the smaller cord or chain control of the axle 
driven cord collection system will not hang long at the side of the blind 
when the movingrail is raised to any degree. This helps to create a neater 
appearance when the movingrail is partially or fully raised. 
The number of lift cords used will vary according to the size of the blind 
and cording arrangement. For instance, an edge lift system may be used to 
control the bottomrail, which would require at least one cord on the front 
and one on the back side of the bottomrail, and preferably two pairs of 
cords. This would allow for the use of slats with notches or grooves along 
which the lift cords and ends of ladder rungs pass. 
The tilt mechanism can be seen in FIGS. 1, 3, 4, 11, and 12. The tilt 
mechanism consists of disks 40 through which preferably a pair of lift 
cords connected to the movingrail 21, 22 or 23, 24 pass. There is one disk 
for each pair of lift cords 21, 22, 23, 24. The disks 40 are mounted on a 
tilt rod 46 so that rotation of the tilt rod will turn the disks in 
unison. The tilt rod is suspended above the base of the headrail by 
cradles 50. A right angle drive or worm gear drive is provided at one end 
of tilt rod 46. The drive extends through the headrail 2 to provide a 
handle which is turned to open and close the blind. FIGS. 11 and 12, show 
the blind tilted opened and closed respectively. Rotation of the disks 40 
in either direction lifts one movingrail lift cord 21 over the other 22 
and pulls the cords closer together. If a two-piece movingrail is used, 
one rail 4 is lifted and the other 5 is lowered A one-piece movingrail 
would tilt as a slat tilts, with one edge being raised relative to the 
other. The cord ladders 10 tilt as do the lift cords, with one rail 11 
being raised while the other 12 is lowered. Similar tilting as described 
for the movingrails can be expected in the bottomrails 7 and 8, depending 
on whether a two-piece or one-piece bottomrail is used. The disks can be 
rotated 180 degrees. The blind slats 9 will be in a nearly closed position 
after the disks 40 have been rotated through approximately 90 degrees. As 
the disks 40 are rotated the lift cords 21-24 and the rails 11 and 12 of 
the ladders are constantly in tension. This prevents lateral movement of 
the slats. By using this mechanism to tilt the lift cords 21-24, the 
weight of the blind is shifted along the center of gravity. The weight of 
the blind is not lifted or transferred, and as a result the blind stays in 
place parallel to the window. 
A second embodiment is shown in FIGS, 6, 8, 10, 13, and 14. The front of 
this embodiment looks similar to the front of the first embodiment shown 
in FIG. 2. This embodiment consists of the same elements: a fixed headrail 
with mechanism for tilting the lift cords of the movingrail; a movingrail 
3, bottomrail 4, and slats 9 positioned therebetween, cord ladders 10, a 
set of four lift cords 21-24 extending from the movingrail to the 
headrail, and a set of lift cords 91-94 extending from the bottomrail to 
the headrail. In this embodiment, I prefer to use an edge lift cord system 
to lift and control the bottomrail and a variation in the tilt mechanism 
which allows for a thinner headrail. 
As in the first embodiment, the movable body of the blind consists of a 
movingrail 3 with two pairs of lift cords 21-24 connected to a tilt 
mechanism in the fixed headrail; a bottomrail 6; and a set of slats 9 
positioned therebetween. Both the movingrail and bottomrail can be 
one-piece or two-piece if desired. For illustration purposes, the drawings 
show only six slats. Any number of slats, most likely more than six, will 
be used. The slats shown are symmetrical to a horizontal plane passing 
through the front and back edges of the slat. Other types of slats, such 
as crowned, s-shaped, or asymmetrical slats, may be used instead of the 
flat slats. The slats are suspended on a cord type ladder 10. A third 
ladder may that is not accompanied by lift cords is shown; more ladders 
and lift cords may be used for wider or heavier blinds. As in the first 
embodiment, the ladder rungs are preferably groups of two to four cords 
and the bottom ends of the ladders are knotted within the bottomrails 7,8 
and are covered by plugs 15. If desired, cord ladders could be replaced 
with fabric tape ladders or sheets of flexible material. Cord 17 is 
provided to tie the movingrails and bottomrails 7,8 together to prevent 
flaring out. 
As can be seen in FIG. 6a, at least two front slots 16 are provided on the 
front edge of each slat 9. Corresponding rear slots 18 have been cut into 
the back edge of slat 9 opposite slots 16. The slots 16, 18 can be 
directly opposite one another as shown, or slots could be offset one to 
the left or right of the other. The slots are sized so that the lift cords 
91, 92, 93, 94, which control the bottomrail and ends of rungs 13 can 
loosely fit therein. For purposes of illustration, the lift cords are 
shown in chain line or dotted line in some of the figures to distinguish 
them from ladder rails 11, 12. Cord ladders 10 are positioned evenly along 
the blind as necessary to support the slats, and near the ends of the 
blind. At least one set of the rails 11 and 12 are adjacent the lift 
cords. Slots 16,18 preferably have a depth so that only the lift cords 
91-94 and ends of rungs 13 can completely fit therein. Thus the ladder 
rails 11,12 are ideally never fully within the slots. 
In this embodiment lift cords which control the movingrail 21-24 are routed 
into the headrail as shown in FIGS. 13 and 14. The cords pass into the 
left and right openings 82 of the headrail, over rollers 86, and into cord 
locks 74b, 76b. The cords extend from the cord locks over pulleys 73 and 
out of the headrail, in this case at the right end, as shown in FIG. 13b 
and 14b. If desired, the pulleys 73 may be mounted on a platform similar 
to what is shown in FIGS. 13a and 14a to prevent the lift cords 21-24 from 
becoming entangled with other cords or hardware. The distal end of the 
lift cords 21-24 may be tied together in a ball connector if preferred. If 
desired a pull cord having a tassel may also be connected to the ball 
connector. 
The cords which control the bottomrail 91-94 should be positioned near 
either end of the blind in slots on both the front and rear edges of the 
slats 9. As shown in FIG. 8 and FIG. 11, lift cords 91 and 93 extend from 
the front bottomrail through front slots 16 in slats 9. Cords 92 and 94 
extend from rear bottomrail 5 through slots 18 in rear edge of slats 9. 
All four lift cords 91-94 pass into the headrail at openings 82. Lift 
cords 91-94 pass over rollers 84 and into cord locks 74a, 76a. From the 
cord locks, the lift cords 91-94 pass over pulleys 73a which are mounted 
on a platform 95 above the tilt hardware. This prevents the lift cords and 
tilt cords from interfering with each other or from tangling. From the 
pulleys, the lift cords 91-94 extend out of the headrail, in this case on 
the left side. The distal end of the lift cords 91-94 may be tied together 
in a ball connector. If desired a pull cord having a tassel may also be 
connected to the ball connector. 
Shown in FIGS. 13a, 14a, 13b, and 14b are release cords 96 which permit the 
use of automatically locking type cord locks. The release cords 96 are 
attached to the cord locks 74, 76 via a yoke 97. The release cords 96 
extend over pulleys 99 and out of the headrail on opposite sides to points 
readily accessible to the user, where a tassel may be attached if desired. 
When the operator pulls release cord 96a, the bottomrail will be lowered 
as the cord locks which control lift cords 91-94 are released. Pulling 
release cord 96b will cause the movingrail to be lowered as cords 21-24 
are released from cord locks. In either case, the pulling of a release 
cord will cause the tilt mechanism to return to the horizontal "open" 
position, as the force of the release cord on the yoke will cause the yoke 
to pull the cord locks 74, 76 to the points shown in FIG. 13a and 13b. 
As shown in FIG. 6b, a second arrangement can be used instead of the edge 
lift cords for the lift cords which control the bottomrail. In this 
configuration, the front lift cord 91b is routed from the bottomrail 7, 
through small slots 16b in the slats 9, and into the headrail as described 
above for the edge lift cords. The rear lift cord 92b is routed from the 
bottomrail 8, through tiny holes 19 placed proximate to the edge of the 
slat, and into the headrail as described for edge lift cords. 
In these cord routing patterns the lift cords 91-94 are in tension at all 
times preventing lateral motion of the slats. The attached tassel can 
provide sufficient tension to hold the slats in place. A weight can be 
placed in the tassel or connector if needed. If the bottom rail is 
supported by the lift cords only, the weight of the bottomrail maintains 
the lift cords in tension, which also prevents lateral motion of the 
slats. If the bottomrail is supported by the tilt ladders, as in FIG. 1, 
the weight of the lift cords extending out to the headrail and the 
attached tassel can provide sufficient tension to hold the slats in place. 
Although most embodiments of my bottom and top stacking blind use cord type 
ladders, this is not required. As shown in FIG. 7 the ladders could be 
formed by two parallel sheets of light transmissive fabric 111 and 112 
connected by fabric strips 113. These strips 113 may serve as rungs and 
support slats (not shown) or could be made of opaque material and function 
as both the rungs and the slats. 
A second present preferred tilt mechanism shown in FIGS. 13a 13b, 14a, and 
14b tilts within a thinner, more streamlined headrail. This arrangement 
uses a set of parallel cross bars combined with straps or cables and cord 
locks to form a parallelogram that moves in tandem with the tilt ladder. 
In this arrangement, shown in FIGS. 13a 13b, 14a, and 14b, a pair of cords 
25, 26 are attached to tassels 54. The tassels 54 may hang free or ride on 
a yoke or handle. The cords from the tassels pass into the front port 56 
of the left end cap 58. One cord goes around the rear pulley 60 through 
the rear belt end pulley 62 and ties at the common tie-off 64. The other 
cord goes around the front pulley 66 through the front belt end pulley 68 
and then ties at the common tie-off 64. The belt end pulleys 66 and 68 are 
at either end of the belt 70 which loops around and is connected at its 
center point to the tilt sheave 72. The connection point is on the medial 
side of the sheave and travels 180 degrees from the backside to the front 
side of the headrail 2 as the blind is tilted from closed in one direction 
to closed in the other direction. The front lift cords 21, 23 of the 
movingrail pass through the headrail, over rollers and into a front lift 
cord lock 74 which is pivotally attached to the tilt sheave 72. They would 
then continue around the pulley and out an end port 56 in end cap 59. Rear 
lift cords would follow a similar pattern through a rear lift cord lock 
76. The straps 77, 78 are pivotally connected on the opposite ends of a 
diameter of the sheave 72 which diameter is perpendicular to the diameter 
that the belt 70 connection is on. The reciprocating cord locks 74, 76 are 
preferably fixed on top of each strap to the medial side of the connection 
to the sheave 72. The preferred straps 75 are each made of continuous 
pieces of spring steel and extend from the tilt sheave on one end of the 
blind to near the other end. They could be made of any material that does 
not stretch under the loads required to tilt the blind and may be shaped 
in ribbons, rods, or cables. The straps do not have to be continuous 
pieces, but could be segments that extend from cradle to cradle and the 
cradle has a segment that forms a parallelogram at each route opening. 
This embodiment has two straps 77, 78 that are nearly the length of the 
headrail and are punched at the same time in the same machine as the 
headrail to assure accurate alignment. 
The straps 77, 78 connect to crossbars 80 that are connected pivotably at 
there centers to the cradles 53. The cradles 53 are placed at each ladder 
location and the pivoting crossbars 80 create parallelogram geometry in 
the vicinity of each cradle 53. For ease of understanding the drawing, 
cradles 53 are shown to be offset from rather than above openings 82. This 
parallelogram geometry synchronizes the lateral and transverse motion of 
the straps 77, 78 and causes them to always remain parallel and move in 
equal but opposite directions. The straps 77, 78 move toward the 
longitudinal axis of the headrail 2 when the blind is tilted and force the 
lift cords 21-24 and the ladder rails 11 and 12 to come together as well. 
The cradles 50 straddle the openings 82 in the headrail that the ladder 
rails 11,12 and the lift cords of the movingrail 21-24 pass through. The 
cradles also support rollers 86 that bend and support the lift cords. 
When the operator pulls a tilt cord tassel 54 the cord 25 pulls one of the 
belt pulleys 62, 68 with a 2:1 mechanical advantage. The belt 70 rotates 
the sheave 72 which translates the straps 77, 78 and reciprocating cord 
locks 74, 76 laterally and transversely. This motion is duplicated at such 
cradle 50 because of the parallelogram geometry. The reciprocating cord 
locks 74, 76 move the lift cords of the movingrail 21-24 up and down and 
bring them closer together; the movingrail, ladders, and slats 9 tilt 
accordingly. If desired, the ladder rails can be attached in the headrail 
(FIG. 13) so that they move in tandem with the lift cords and help tilt 
the slats 9. 
Another embodiment of the bottom and top stacking blind would have a second 
sheave with reciprocating cord locks on the opposite side of the headrail 
from the first sheave. The set of lift cords 91-94 would pass through 
these locks over the second lift roller and through the edge slots in the 
slats and attach to a single or double bottomrail. 
There can be a conventional pull or pulls on the operator ends of the lift 
cords that run through reciprocating lift cords. However, it may be 
desirable to have a special cord pull with reciprocating weights because 
half of the cords move up and half move down when the blind is being 
tilted and this makes the cords loop and be less attractive when the blind 
is tilted. The cord pull could be a tube having two weights would be 
inside with the outside lift cords attached to one weight and the inside 
cords attached to the other weight. The weights would be configured so 
that they could move past each other and travel the width of the slats. 
The reciprocating cord locks allow the cords to move freely at all times 
out of the headrail and lock automatically to oppose the weight of the 
shade which is whenever the cord moves into the headrail. To lower the 
shade the locks are released or opened by a mechanical linkage that the 
operator can activate. The preferred linkage is a yoke pulls the cord lock 
furthest from the end of the blind back towards the other lock until they 
are in side by side position before they are opened. The locks are 
configured so that they can only open when they are side by side and when 
the release linkage is being activated by the operator. This compensates 
for changes in the positions of the lift cords relative to the ladder 
rails that can be induced when the operator lifts or lowers the blind, 
since tugging on the lift cord pull will always bring the lift cords to an 
even or non-tilted position whether the ladders are tilted or not. 
There are always two sets of lift cords in this type of blind. One set 
extends from the movingrail through the headrail and attaches to the tilt 
mechanism. This set lifts and controls the movingrail and thus the blind. 
The second set of lift cords, which lifts and tilts the bottomrail, can be 
as few as two cords, one on each side of the blind, or can be four or more 
cords. These cords can be single cords in a centerline lift system or 
pairs of cords in an edge lift system. 
Since the rails 11, 12 are on the outside edges of the slats, they can fold 
neatly across the front of the blind when the blind is stacked in the 
lowered position shown in FIG. 2. The rails may be treated with a 
permanent pleating to provide a memory in the rails so that they will fold 
in the desired manner. 
The cord ladders may be replaced with ladders of fabric sheets or fabric 
tape. The ladders are not part of the tilt mechanism, and therefore do not 
need to be made of cord. They will always terminate at the movingrail. 
It is desirable to use cord release type cord locks for all cord locks in 
the blind. These cord locks hold the cords locked in place automatically 
unless released by the user, as opposed to the conventional cord which 
must first be locked by the user. 
Of the two embodiments, the first described system is the simplest 
operation; the second can be used to provide a sleek, less space-consuming 
headrail, which is useful when employing thick wood slats or fabric blinds 
which would have a smoother appearance with a less bulky headrail. Other 
than this variation, both described embodiments of this invention provide 
the same primary advantages. First, the ability to use the movingrail lift 
cords to tilt the blind from a mechanism in the fixed headrail allows for 
most of the hardware to be placed inside the headrail. All of the controls 
are kept in this fixed, optimum position for simple one-hand operation. 
Second, no specialized hardware is needed, because the lifting and tilting 
mechanisms consist of hardware common to venetian type blinds. The 
manufacturer can use a few preexisting pieced of hardware to create a 
headrail which can then be used for any type of blind: bottom and top 
stacking, traditional top stacking, centerline lifting, or edge lift 
(no-holes) lifting, or any combination of these. 
Finally, since the ladders of this blind are completely independent of the 
tilting mechanism, and are attached at the movingrail as opposed to the 
headrail, the ladders could then be made of any material, in any style, 
the only condition being that they are sturdy enough to help support the 
slats. They need not be connected to the tilt mechanism, only to the 
movingrail or rails which tilt along with the ladders. In summary, the 
manufacturer can use one design of headrail to create any "look" for the 
blind which the customer may choose. 
Although I have shown and described certain present preferred embodiments 
of my venetian blind it should be distinctly understood that the invention 
is not limited thereto but may be variously embodied within the scope of 
the following claims.