WINDOW SHUTTER

Abstract: A shutter for application over a window comprises a plurality of horizontal slats (4) mounted in vertically-spaced relation, a tilting (12) device for simultaneously tilting all the slats (4) about their horizontal axes from horizontal positions to vertical positions, and a raising device (10) for raising the slats from lowered positions to raised positions with respect to the window. The plurality of slats are mounted on shafts (5) received within channels (14,16) located at opposite sides of the window and guiding the movement of the shafts of the slats when the slats are tilted, raised and lowered.

Description: The present invention relates to window coverings, and particularly to a novel window shutter for controlling the amount of light and air permitted to pass through the window. A large number of different types of window coverings or shutters are known. One type includes a frame having a plurality of slats tiltable to either an open or closed position, with the frame being slidably or hingedly mounted with respect to the window in order to completely open the window. Such shutters, however, require wall space on the sides of the window to accommodate the shutter when in its window-open position; moreover, such shutters require sliding or hinging structures which are costly to produce, install, maintain and repair. Another type of shutter, called a "roll-up" shutter, includes a plurality of slats rolled around a shaft mounted horizontally at the top of the window. Such a shutter, however, requires a separate box or casing at the upper end of the window for accommodating the shaft and slats when in their wound condition on the shaft. In addition to the space requirements for the shutter housing at the top of the window, this type of shutter is also costly in construction, installation, maintainance and repair. A still further type of window covering, called Venetian Blinds, includes a plurality of horizontally-extending slats pivotably mounted to a plurality of vertically-extending tapes such that the slats may be simultaneously tilted by a tilt cord, or lifted by a lift cord. A disadvantage of Venetian Blinds, however, is that they do not completely close the window opening against the entry of light or rain when this may be desired. DE-A-3511246 discloses a shutter according to the preamble of claim 1 which includes a complicated and costly construction, particularly with respect to the mechanism for tilting the slats. FR-A-1475733 discloses a similar shutter which better closes the window opening against the entry of light or rain. However, the tilting means described in that publication require separate gearing for each slat, thereby increasing the cost of the construction particularly with respect to shutters having a large number of slats. FR-A-1129755 discloses a similar shutter, in which the slats are pivotally mounted to a member which is moved vertically in order to pivot the slats; such a construction is not suitable for installation in existing window openings since considerable space is required above the shutter for accommodating the vertically-movable member. An object of the present invention is to provide a shutter which is of simple construction and which can be installed in existing window openings. According to the present invention, there is provided a shutter for application over a window comprising a plurality of horizontal slats mounted in vertically-spaced relation, tilting means for simultaneously tilting all said slats about their horizontal axes from horizontal positions to vertical positions, and raising means for raising the slats from lowered positions to raised positions with respect to the window, said plurality of slats being mounted on shafts received within channels at opposite sides of the window for guiding the movement of the shafts of the slats when the slats are tilted, raised and lowered; said tilting means comprising a manually-rotatable member formed with a threaded shank extending horizontally and perpendicularly to the shafts of the slats, and a nut movable along said threaded shank and coupled to said slats to tilt them upon movement of said nut by the rotation of said manually-rotatable member; characterized in that said nut is coupled to said slats by a vertically-extending coupling member fixed to said nut to move therewith parallel to said shank towards or away from said manually-rotatable member, and a plurality of crank levers having one end coupled to said vertically-extending coupling member, and the opposite end coupled to its respective slat. It will thus be seen that a shutter constructed in accordance with the foregoing features not only provides a simple arrangement for tilting the slats, but may also be installed in existing window openings since the tilting mechanism is displaceable within the confines of an existing window opening and therefore does not require additional space above the window opening. Further features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the description below. The invention is herein described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: Fig. 1 illustrates one form of improved shutter constructed in accordance with the present invention, Figs. 1a, 1b and 1d being sectional views along lines a--a, b--b and d--d of Fig. 1, while Fig. 1c is a sectional view along line c--c of Fig. 1b; and Figs. 2-5 are fragmentary views illustrating constructional details of the shutter of Fig. 1. The window shutter illustrated in Figs. 1-5 is adapted to be mounted in the window opening of a building 102 and includes a plurality of horizontal slats 104 mounted to and between a pair of flexible elongated mounting members 106, 108. The slats may be moved from a normal, closed position illustrated in Fig. 1 to an open, raised position as illustrated in Fig. 3 by means of a manually-rotatable member or handle 110; they also may be simultaneously tilted about their horizontal axes from a vertical, closed position to a horizontal, open position by rotating a second manually-rotatable member or knob 112. The flexible, elongated mounting members 106, 108 between which the slats 104 are pivotally mounted, are in the form of flexible strips or belts disposed within a pair of channel members 114, 116 fixed to the opposite sides of the shuttter. The two channel members 114, 116 thus serve as guides for positively guiding the movement of the ends of the slats 104 when they are moved wither to their lower, closed positions or to their upper, open positions. As shown in Fig. 1a, each of the slats 104 is pivotally mounted by means of a shaft 118 extending transversely through the respective slat and enclosed by a metal protective sleeve 120 preventing cutting-through the shaft. The slats and sleeves are open at their opposite ends, and each receives a pin 122 formed with an enlarged head 122a receivable within the respective channel member 114 (or 116). The shaft 118, sleeve 120 and pin 122 are all of square cross-section, and are received in a square cross-section opening extending through the length of the slat. The slats 104 are raised and lowered, upon rotation of handle 110, by means of a pair of closed-loop belts 124, 126 supported between a pair of wheels 124a, 124b and 126a, 126b and extending vertically within channel member 114, 116 on opposite sides of the slats. Handle 110 is coupled by a shaft 128 and bevel gearing 130 to directly drive wheel 124b of the closed-loop belt 124; and wheel 124b is coupled by a coupling rod 132 to wheel 126b for driving the closed-loop belt 126. Shaft 118 of the lowermost slat 104 is fixed at its opposite ends to one side of each of the two closed-loop belts 124, 126, as shown at 134, such that rotating handle 110 in one direction raises the lowermost slat 104, and rotating the handle in the opposite direction lowers the lowermost slat. When the lowermost slat 104 is raised, it picks up the overlying slats and thereby also raises them; and when the lowermost slat is lowered, it permits the overlying slats to also be lowered to their, respective vertically-spaced positions between the flexible, elongated, mounting members 106, 108. In order to raise the slats 104 by rotating handle 110, it is necessary first to tilt them to their horizontal positions by rotating knob 112. The manner in which this is done is described more particularly below. The slats 104 may thus be raised to any vertical position by rotating handle 110. Figs. 1b and 1c illustrate locking mechanism for locking the handle 110 in any rotated position, and thereby locking the slats 104 in their respective raised positions. Thus, handle 110 is pivotally mounted to housing 102 by a pin 136 (Fig. 1b), and is urged towards the housing 102 by spring 138 interposed between the handle 110 and a cap 140. A locking plate 142 is secured to the housing 102 at the inner side of handle 110 by means of a plurality of fasteners 144. Locking plate 142 is formed with a circular array of openings or recesses 146 (Fig. 1c) adapted to selectively receive a pin 148 projecting from the inner face of handle 110. In the normal condition of handle 110, spring 138 urges pin 148 into one of the openings 146 of locking plate 142, to thereby lock the handle in any rotated position. Since handle 110 is directly coupled to the two closed-loop belts 124, 126, via gearing 130 and coupling rod 132, this locks the belt and thereby the slats 104 in position. Whenever it is desired to raise or lower the slats, the operator pulls handle 110 outwardly, against the force of spring 138, to unseat pin 148 from opening 146, thereby freeing handle 110 for manual rotation in one or the other direction in order to raise or lower the slats. As indicated earlier, before raising the slats, it is necessary to tilt them to their horizontal positions. This is accomplished by rotating knob 112. As shown in Fig. 1d, knob 112 is secured to a shank 150 passing through an opening in channel member 116. The portion of shank 150 within channel member 116 is formed with threads 152 cooperable with a nut 154. Nut 154 carries a U-shaped profile member 156 which extends vertically for the complete height of channel member 116. The upper and lower ends of profile member 156 are pivotally coupled to a pair of parallel-links 157a, 157b, permitting profile member 156 to move parallel to shank 150 of knob 112. The respective ends of the slats 104 (i.e., their right ends as illustrated in Fig. 1) are coupled to profile member 156 by crank levers 158. Thus, each crank lever 158 includes an arm 158a received within the opening through its respective slat 104 and thereby serves as the pivot shaft therefor, and another arm 158b received within the vertically-extending profile member 156. It will thus be seen that when knob 112 is rotated in one direction, this also moves nut 154 to shift profile member 156, carried by nut 154, towards or away from knob 112. This shifting of profile members 156 pivots the slats 104 via the crank levers 158 coupling the shafts 118 of the slats to the profile member 156, such that rotating knob 112 will pivot the slats either to their vertical positions (illustrated in broken lines in Fig. 4) or to their horizontal positions (illustrated in full lines in Fig. 4), according to the direction of rotation of the knob. Fig. 5 illustrates a locking arrangement for securely locking the slats 104 in their lowered vertical positions to prevent an attempt of forceful entry through the slats. The locking device illustrated in Fig. 5 comprises a locking plate 160 slidably received within one (or both) of the channel members 116, 114. Locking plate 160 is formed with a plurality of notches 162 along one edge, which notches are aligned with the pins 122 of the slat shafts 118. Locking plate 160 is slidably supported between a pair of members 164a, 164b to either lock or release the shafts 118 with respect to notches 162, Thus, when plate 160 is moved to its full-line position illustrated in Fig. 5, it causes the pins 122 of shafts 118 to be seated within notches 162, thereby preventing these shafts, and their respective slats 104, from being raised either by handle 110, or forcefully by an intruder. In order to permit the slats to be raised by handle 110, locking plate 160 is slid to its broken-line position illustrated in Fig. 5, thereby moving the notches 162 clear of the pins 122 of shafts 118, permitting the shafts and their respective slats 104 to be raised. Locking plate 160 is provided with a knob 166 facilitating the sliding of the plate. In addition, the channel member (e.g., 116) receiving the locking plate 160 may be provided with a lock 168 controlled by a key 170 and adapted to project a bolt 172 outwardly in order to engage the edge of locking plate 160, and thereby to prevent its movement to the slat-releasing position. The manner of using the window shutter illustrated in the drawings will be apparent from the above description. Thus, whenever it is desired to tilt the slats about their horizontal axes, this may be done by rotating knob 112 which, by virtue of its coupling via nut 154, profile member 156, and crank lever 158, to the shafts 118, rotates the shafts and thereby pivots their respective slats 104. Whenever it is desired to raise the slats 104, the slats must first be pivoted to their horizontal positions by operating knob 112, and they may then be raised by rotating handle 110. Thus, rotation of handle 110 rotates the two closed-loop belts 124, 126 on opposite sides of the slats; the connection 134 of the lowermost slat 104 to the two belts causes the lowermost slat to rise and, during its rising movement, to pick-up the overlying slats 104. Should it be desired to lock the slats in their lowered vertical positions, this may be done by sliding locking plate 160 (Fig. 5) to move its notches 162 into engagement with the pins 122 of shafts 118 of the slats 104, thereby locking the slats against any vertical movement.

Claims: A shutter for application over a window comprising a plurality of horizontal slats (104) mounted in vertically-spaced relation, tilting means (112, 150, 152, 154) for simultaneously tilting all said slats about their horizontal axes from horizontal positions to vertical positions, and raising means (110, 140, 124, 126) for raising the slats from lowered positions to raised positions with respect to the window, said plurality of slats being mounted on shafts (118) received within channels (114, 116) at opposite sides of the window for guiding the movement of the shafts of the slats when the slats are tilted, raised and lowered; said tilting means comprising a manually-rotatable member (112) formed with a threaded shank (150, 152) extending horizontally and perpendicularly to the shafts of the slats, and a nut (154) movable along said threaded shank and coupled to said slats to tilt them upon movement of said nut by the rotation of said manually-rotatable member; characterized in that said nut (154) is coupled to said slats by a vertically-extending coupling member (156) fixed to said nut to move therewith parallel to said shank (150, 152) towards or away from said manually-rotatable member, and a plurality of crank levers (158) having one end (158b) coupled to said vertically-extending coupling member, and the opposite end (158a) coupled to its respective slat. The shutter according to Claim 1, wherein said vertically-extending coupling member (156) is a channel member of U-shape profile and is supported at its opposite ends by a parallel-link mechanism (157a, 157b). The shutter according to either of Claims 1 or 2, wherein each of said shafts (118) is enclosed by a metal protective sleeve (120). The shutter according to any one of Claims 1-3, further including locking means (160, 168) for locking said slats (104) in their vertical, lowered positions closing the window. The shutter according to Claim 4, wherein said locking means comprises a locking plate (160) formed with notches (162) along one edge and slidable to seat the ends of the shafts of the slats within the notches, when the slats are in their lowered, vertical positions, to thereby lock the slats in such positions. The shutter according to any one of Claims 1-5, wherein said raising means comprises a closed loop belt (124, 126) supported between a pair of wheels (124a, 124b; 126a, 126b) and extending vertically on each of the opposite sides of the slats, each of said closed-loop belts being disposed within one of said channel members (114, 116) and being fixed to the lowermost slat (104) of the shutter. The shutter according to Claim 6, wherein said raising means further comprises a manually-rotatable member (140), gearing (130) coupling said manually-rotatable member to a wheel (124b) of one of said closed loop belts (124), and a coupling rod (132) extending transversely across the shutter and connecting said wheel of said one closed-loop belt to a wheel of the other closed-loop belt. The shutter according to either of Claims 6 or 7, wherein said raising means further comprises a locking disc (142) formed with a circular array of locking openings (146), and said manually-rotatable member (140) comprises a pin (148) spring-urged (138) into one of said locking openings when said manually-rotatable member is released for locking the slats in any raised position.

Inventors: ROSENFELD, CHAIM
Applicants: PARMA DEVELOPMENTS LTD.
Application year: 1988
Main classification: E06B9
IPC codes: E06B9