Improved assembly of the carriage and the guiding rail for a curtain

Abstract: An improved assembly of a carriage and a guiding rail for curtains, capable of preventing the main body 1 of the carriage from distortion, wherein in addition to rollers 2 as those on a conventional curtain, several vertical limiting rollers 4 are provided beneath the rollers 2 to clamp the bottoms of two lateral rails 31 with the rollers 2, the axes of the vertical rollers 4 are parallel to those of the rollers 2; several horizontal limiting rollers 5 are located at the front and the rear ends of the main body 1 and located between the inner edges 32 of the guiding rail 3, such structure may render the force tending to create biasing of the main body 1 to rotate the rollers 2, the vertical and the horizontal rollers 4, 5, thus prolongs the life of use and effects smooth sliding of the carriage.

Description: The present invention relates to a carriage for supporting curtains on a guide rail according to the first part of Claim 1; such carriages are enclosed by GB-A-537 791 and AU-B-505 615. In addition to rollers used conventionally for manually operated curtains, several rollers having the plane of the rollers extending in a vertical direction in use may be provided beneath the rollers to clamp the bottoms of two laterally extending rails which are engaged by the conventional rollers in use, and a plurality of rollers having the plane of the rollers extending in a horizontal direction may be provided at both ends of and inside the carriage, so that vertical and horizontal components of the force exerted for pulling the curtain make the rollers rotate, thus preventing the carriage from distortion, and prolonging the useful life of the carriage. As shown in AU-B1-30638, DE 1144448, GB 531781 and US 2564995 a manually operated curtain is pulled directly to stretch or contract it without using ropes. A user always catches the front end of the curtain by hand, or uses a stick, for pulling a carriage, the pulling force is a sideward force relative to the carriage above the curtain which provides a horizontal component, in addition to a vertical component due to the weight of the curtain. A conventional carriage for a curtain is as shown in FIG.7 having a pair or rollers 12 on each end of the main body 11 of the sheet carriage, the rollers 12 are to be located on both bottom lateral rails 14 of the guiding rails 13 to support the weight of the curtain and for sliding of the carriage; the bottom lateral rails 14 are folded upwardly to form individually an inner edge 15, so that the main body 11 is just interposed between the bottom side rails 14 of the guiding rail 13. However, when the curtain is in operation, a sideward and forward pulling force cause the front and the rear ends of the main body 11 of the carriage to bias leftwardly or rightwardly about a vertical axis (as shown in Fig. 7-1), and cause the upper and the lower ends thereof to bias leftwardly or rightwardly about a horizontal axis (as shown in Fig. 7-2), so that in operation of the carriage, the main body 11 always biases to create sliding friction with the inner edges 15 of the rail 13, the rollers 12 hence are unevenly loaded, they are thereby subject to damage, breaking, and cause the user to feel resistance when pulling the curtain. Furthermore, FR -A-1075419 in particular discloses a carriage having a plurality of first rollers in which the plane of the rollers, in use, are arranged to extend in a vertical direction and one further roller in which the plane of the roller extends in a horizontal direction. The disadvantage of such a carriage is that forces applied in manually moving the carriage to move a curtain supported on the carriage raises and tilts the carriage causing undue wear on the rollers. An object of the present invention is to provide a carriage for supporting curtains on a guide rail for a manually operated curtain in which the above mentioned disadvantages are substantially mitigated. According to the present invention there is provided a carriage for supporting a curtain on a guide rail, comprising a body, a first set of rollers rotatably mounted on the body and disposed in use with the plane of the rollers extending in a vertical direction to engage roller surfaces of a guide rail, a second set of rollers rotatably mounted on the body and disposed with the plane of the second set of rollers extending in a horizontal direction to engage further surfaces of said guide rail, characterised by a third set of rollers being rotatably mounted on the body and disposed with the plane of said third set of rollers extending in said vertical direction, said third set of rollers being located to engage other surfaces of said guide rails which other surfaces are opposed to the first mentioned roller surfaces. In one preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention the first set of rollers comprises pairs of rollers transversely spaced from one another across a longitudinal direction of the guide rail and located uppermost on the body in the vertical direction, and said pairs of rollers being spaced one from the other in the said longitudinal direction. Preferably, the third set of rollers comprises two pairs of rollers below the first set of rollers in which pairs of the third set of rollers are spaced one from the other in the longitudinal direction. Preferably, the second set of rollers is located between each pair of the first and third sets of rollers. Conveniently, the body comprises a plate having a major plane extending in use in a direction parallel to the direction in which the plane of the first and third set of rollers extend. The diameter of the second set of rollers may be larger than the thickness of the main body in a direction in which a rotational axis of the second set of rollers extend. Preferably, the distance between a peripheral surface of said third set of rollers and a closest peripheral surface of the second set of rollers is arranged to be equal to the thickness of said guide rail between said roller surfaces and said other surfaces thereof. Conveniently, said sets of rollers are of a plastics material or of rubber. Preferably, the distance between a peripheral surface of said third set of rollers and a closest one of the second opposed side surfaces of the second set of rollers is arranged to be equal to the thickness of said horizontal guide rails which the third set of rollers contact in use. Conveniently, said second set of rollers and the third set of rollers are of a plastics material or of rubber. The present invention provides a plurality of vertical disposed rollers in addition to the horizontal and vertical rollers provided in FR-A1075419. These additional rollers have the particular advantage of creating the biasing force phenomenon referred to above in relation to conventional structures to make the carriage slide by rotating the rollers, and to thus effect convenient use, smooth sliding and prolonging of the useful life of the carriage. Therefore, there is provided a carriage for supporting curtains on a guide rail for a manually operated curtain, wherein the combination and location of the first, second and third set of rollers the latter of which may be provided at both ends of the carriage can render the force creating the biasing phenomenon referred to above advantageously, in a manner not shown in FR 1075419, make the carriage slide by rotating the rollers when they contact with the bottom and inner edges of the bottom lateral rails of the guide rail, thus preventing the carriage from distortion and prolonging the useful life of the carriage. The present invention will be apparent in its practical structure, characteristics and functions after reading the detailed description of the preferred embodiments, thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a carriage in accordance with the present invention; Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along sectional line A-A' in Fig. 1 and shows the relative positions of the rollers and body; Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along the sectional line B-B' in Fig. 1; Fig. 3-1 is a schematic view from one end of the carriage of Fig. 1 showing the operation of the present invention; Fig. 4 is a sectional view along sectional line C-C' in Fig. 1; Fig. 4-1 is a top schematic view showing the operation of the carriage of the present invention; Fig. 5 shows another embodiment of the carriage of the present invention; Fig. 6 is a schematic view showing the carriage of the present invention being used in a manual operation mode; Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a conventional carriage to be used with a guide rail; Fig. 7-1 is a top sectional view showing the biasing state of the front and the rear ends of the body of the conventional carriage; and Fig.7-2 is schematic view from one end showing the biased state of the upper and the lower ends of the body of the conventional carriage. Fig. 1 shows a carriage in accordance with the present invention for a manually operated curtain, wherein a plurality of vertical limiting rollers 4 (third rollers) and horizontal limiting rollers 5 (second rollers) are provided in addition to the rollers 2 (first rollers) provided on a conventional manually operated curtain, and are provided at the front and the rear ends and on both sides of the main body 1 of the carriage, respectively. The vertical limiting rollers 4 are provided beneath the rollers 2, i.e. the topmost peripheral edge of the vertical limiting rollers 4 are slightly lower than the bottom most peripheral edge of the rollers 2. The vertical limiting rollers 4 are constructed similarly to the rollers 2; the horizontal limiting rollers 5 are provided at the front and the rear ends of the main body 1, their rotational axes are orthogonal to those of the vertical limiting rollers 4, while the diameter thereof is larger than the thickness of the main body 1; the guide rail 3 for the carriage is formed to have two bottom lateral rails 31, the inner ends of the bottom lateral rails 31 being folded upwardly to form individually an inner edge 32, so that the main body 1 can be interposed between the bottom lateral rails 31 of the guide rail 3 as shown in Fig. 2-Fig. 4, wherein Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken from the sectional line A-A' in Fig. 1 and shows the relative positions between the guide rail 3 and the main body 1, and wherein the upper and the lower sides of the bottom lateral rails 31 can be contacted with the rollers 2 and the vertical limiting rollers 4 respectively, if the main body 1 is exerted on one end thereof with a force as depicted by an arrow in Fig. 2, the horizontal component of the force will render the main body 1 to move horizontally by rotating of the rollers 2 and the vertical limiting rollers 4 on the bottom lateral rails 31, while the vertical component of the force will not render the other end of the main body 1 (which end is not exerted directly by the force) to be raised or displaced, because the two ends of the main body 1 are limited by the rollers 2 and the vertical limiting rollers 4, and thus the upward or downward biasing phenomenon of the main body 1 as might have in the section A-A' of the main body 1 can be avoided. Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken from the sectional line B-B' in Fig. 1 and shows the relative positions between the guide rail 3 and the main body 1, wherein the main body 1 and the horizontal limiting rollers 5 are interposed between the inner edges 32 of the bottom lateral rails 31 of the guide rail 3, while the rollers 2 and the vertical limiting rollers 4 are disposed on and beneath respectively the bottom lateral rails 31 which extend inwardly from the outer ends of the bottom of the lateral rails 31, so that the lateral rails 31 are clamped between the rollers 2 and the vertical limiting rollers 4; if a force is exerted as shown by an arrow in Fig. 3-1, the horizontal component of the force will render the main boty 1 to bias, however, the horizontal limiting rollers 5 are abutted with the left inner edge 32, so that the main body 1 will not contact the inner edge 32; while the vertical component of the force will not render the end of the main body 1 which is not exerted directly by the force to be raised, because the rollers 2 and the vertical limiting rollers 4 on both sides of the main body 1 clamp the bottom lateral rails 31, therefore, the main body 1 will never contact the guide rail 3 by exertion of the force. Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken from the sectional line C-C' in Fig. 1 and shows the relative positions between the guide rail 3 and the main body 1, wherein the main body 1 is interposed between the inner edges 32 of the guide rail 3; while the rollers 2 are in pairs and disposed at the front end and the rear end and at both sides of the main body 1, therefore, they straddle the inner edges 32; if a force is exerted as shown by an arrow in Fig. 4-1, the horizontal component of the force will render the main body 1 to move along the direction of the component, while the vertical component of the force will render the force to bias toward the opposite direction to that of the component, and due to the fact that the diameter of the horizontal limiting rollers 5 is larger than the thickness of the main body 1, the biasing at the front or the rear end of the main body 1 will not render the main body 1 to contact the guide rail 3 for that the front and the rear horizontal limiting rollers 5 have already contacted the inner edges 32. Therefore, the force may incline the main body 1, but will not render it to contact the guide rail 3 in any way. According to the analyses concerning the sections A-A', B-B' and C-C', it can be seen that the main body on the guide rail 3 will never contact or have friction with the guide rail 3 by any force from any direction, while the direction of an action force to the main body 1 is limited to the situation as shown by the arrow depicted in Fig. 6, which force is exerted forwardly or backwardly, in this case, the main body 1 of the present invention can be prevented from biasing and distortion, and friction force can be reduced due to the rotational contact between the rollers 2, the vertical and the horizontal limiting rollers 4, 5 and the guide rail 3, and thus the effects of prolonging the life of use and effecting stable as well as smooth sliding of the main body 1 can be achieved. One thing worth of mentioning, the rollers 2, the vertical limiting rollers 4 and the horizontal limiting rollers 5 are preferably made of plastic or rubber having attribution of elasticity, so that they can absorb part of the vertical downward components of force beside the function mentioned above; moreover, the carriages shown in Fig. 1-Fig. 4 are manually operated ones, the difference between them and the one using a rope (which is another embodiment of the present invention) resides in that the main body 1 on a rope type carriage for a curtain (referring to Fig. 5) provides with a lug 6 which connects to a rope 7, and a guiding channel 33 is provided on one side of and under the guide rail 3 to allow the rope 7 to move along the guiding channel 33 when the main body 1 is pulled through the rope 7; because the force exerts on the rope 7 on one side of the main body 1, the rope type carriage also has a possibility of biasing and distorting, however, it can have astable as well as smooth sliding by providing the vertical limiting rollers 4 and the horizontal limiting rollers 5. Accordingly, the improved assembly of the carriage and the guide rail for a manually operated curtain of the present invention includes a plurality of vertical and horizontal limiting rollers which can completely ab absorb any action force capable of biasing the main body and render the force to only make the limiting rollers rotate, thus prevents the carriage from distortion, and prolong the life of use of the carriage as well as provide the carriage with an effect of smooth sliding.

Claims: A carriage for supporting a curtain on a guide rail (3), comprising a body (1), a first set of rollers (2) rotatably mounted on the body and disposed in use with the plane of the rollers extending in a vertical direction to engage roller surfaces of a guide rail, a second set of rollers (5) rotatably mounted on the body (1) and disposed with the plane of the second set of rollers extending in a horizontal direction to engage further surfaces of said guide rail, characterised by a third set of rollers (4) being rotatably mounted on the body and disposed with the plane of said third set of rollers extending in said vertical direction, said third set of rollers being located to engage other surfaces of said guide rails which other surfaces are opposed to the first mentioned roller surfaces. A carriage as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first set of rollers (2) comprises pairs of rollers transversely spaced from one another across a longitudinal direction of the guide rail and located uppermost on the body (1) in the vertical direction, and said pairs of rollers being spaced one from the other in the said longitudinal direction. A carriage as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the third set of rollers (4) comprises two pairs of rollers below the first set of rollers (2) in which pairs of the third set of rollers are spaced one from the other in the longitudinally direction. A carriage as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the second set of rollers (5) is located between each pair of the first and third sets of rollers (2,4). A carriage as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the body comprises a plate (1) having a major plane extending in use in a direction parallel to the direction in which the plane of the first and third set of rollers (2,4) extend. A carriage as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the diameter of the second set of rollers (5) is larger than the thickness of the main body (l) in a direction in which a rotational axis of the first set of rollers extend. A carriage as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the distance between a peripheral surface of said third set of rollers (4) and a closest peripheral surface of the second set of rollers (5) is arranged to be equal to the thickness of said guide rail between said roller surfaces and said other surfaces thereof. A carriage as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said sets of rollers are of a plastics material or of rubber.

Inventors: YU CHING-JUNG, YU, CHING-JUNG
Applicants: YU CHING JUNG, YU, CHING-JUNG
Application year: 1995
Main classification: A47H15
IPC codes: A47H15