Patent Publication Number: US-6701669-B1

Title: Shutter system rotation mechanism

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The herein disclosed device relates to window shutters. More particularly it relates to a device for the improved control and rotation of louvers mounted in window shutters for control of the light transmission through the window into a room. Such light transmission control is generally accomplished by the louvers being rotationally locatable between an open position substantially perpendicular to the window allowing maximum light transmission and a closed position substantially parallel to the window and overlapping whereby light transmission is minimized. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Conventional window shutters are generally comprised of rectangular hinged panels that are sized to cooperatively engage with the window frames around a window opening. Such panels generally are formed about their perimeter using two vertical members known in the industry as stiles and two horizontal rails communicating with the vertical stiles. Operationally engaged to the panels, is a horizontal array of parallel overlapping louvers that can be rotated on axles or similar rotational attachments to the stiles. Adjustment of the rotational positioning of the louvers is conventionally accomplished by laterally translating a tilt rod which attaches to one front edge of each louver to thereby vertically rotate the louvers in their engagement with the stiles. All louvers so attached to the rod will thus rotate to substantially the same angle in relation to the window when the rod is translated and thus regulate the light transmission into the room through the change in size of the gaps formed between the louvers. 
     Louvers rotated in this fashion are however, easily rotated out of the desired position by gravity, vibration, or jarring, thus presenting a constant problem in the gaps therebetween becoming too large or too small to yield the desired light transmission into the room. The tilt rods also create a visual obstruction in the center of each panel and obstruct in the cleaning of the louvers by blocking access thereto. Further, even under the best conditions, positioning the louvers to the desired angle is hard to do since it involves the use of the hand and arm to move the tilt rod which can be hard to do especially for the aged or persons without adequate manual dexterity. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,469,658 (Digianni) attempts to solve the problem inherent to rod rotated louvers by using a gear train Which engages the louvers such that the user moves one louver to move them all. However Digianni is still easily moved from proper adjustment by vibration or abrasion and requires the user to grab a louver to adjust the device increasing the likelihood of louvers getting dirty or damaged. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 2,652,245 (Bentley) teaches a mechanism for opening and closing louvers which uses a plurality of cables to rotate a plurality of louvers. However, Bentley is complicated to assemble and somewhat unsightly due to the cables which would be easily kinked over long periods of use. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 2,272,722 (Morin) discloses a worm gear driven device for rotation of windows. As disclosed however, Morin is not easily constructed due to the need to align worm and communicating gears and also requires the use of yokes and other devices for use. 
     As such, there is a pressing need for a louver adjustment system that is easily constructed and functions without a great need for adjustment or service. Such a device should provide for the elimination of the conventional and unsightly tilt rod. Such an adjustment system should maintain the louvers in the user desired position and should not be easily affected by gravity, vibration, or jarring. Still further, such a louver adjusting system should be easy to adjust even in minute amounts to provide the optimum amount of light through the gaps between the louvers for the user. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The above problems, and others are overcome by the herein disclosed louver rotation system. As herein described the device allows for rotation of louvers within a shutter panel without the need or use of an exterior tilt rod. Instead, a knob communicating internally with a pair of reciprocating gears through one of the panels stiles, imparts louver rotation when the rotation of the knob translates a pair of elongated geared racks which in turn, communicate that rotation to operatively communicating gears on the louvers. 
     Once rotated to the desired position, the louvers are maintained by in that position by the herein disclosed device through a number of design factors. First, the louvers all communicate with a pair of the geared racks in a balanced engagement with one rack engaging the gears on the louvers balanced by the force from the other. Additionally, in one preferred embodiment, a clutch or brake mechanism is provided wherein resistance to rotation is imparted by the knob assembly. This clutch type pressure makes the louvers generally resistive to movement since the racks engaging the gears on the louvers are impeded in their translation due to the clutch pressure. However, should the louvers be somehow jarred, slippage will occur in the knob assembly allowing the louvers to rotate and avoiding damage to the system. 
     Also, the device has no asymmetrical components like the conventional tilt rod, to create downward pull on the louvers. Communication of knob rotation, and movement of all louvers is provided by the two geared racks with double gear faces and diagonal configuration. Additional utility is provided by the double gear and rack design which not only eliminates any possibility of gear slippage, the two racks acting as counter balance to each other thereby provide a means to maintain the louvers in the selected horizontal position by preventing rotation from vibration or gravity. 
     Further utility in the disclosed device herein is provided by the use of a gear channel insert to house the geared racks which provides for a smoother operation of the racks. Optional connector ends on the geared racks may also be configured to cooperatively engage similar geared racks and thereby allow for the elongation of the geared racks for taller louvered shutters and modular construction of louvered shutters using prefabricated components to assemble the stiles, ends, louvers, and gear mechanism into an operating louvered shutter. Consequently the geared racks can either be manufactured as one piece to fit the specific shutter being made in cooperative engagement with channel inserts also properly sized for that shutter or in standard lengths which can be assembled to fit a desired length of a shutter frame. 
     Accordingly, it is the object of this invention claimed herein to provide a simplified louvered shutter design which is easily operated and adjusted by the user. 
     It is another object of this invention to supply a louvered shutter system that resists mis-adjustment through the use of balanced components. 
     It is still another object of this invention to supply a louvered shutter system that will maintain the louvers in the position set by the user with a simple clutch mechanism. 
     It is a still further object of this invention to provide for the elimination of problems inherent with the tilt rod in a louvered shutter system. 
     It is yet another object of this invention to provide a louvered shutter that is easily cleaned and provides a view through the louvers that is unobstructed by vertical tilt rods. 
     A further object of this invention is the provision of geared components and channel inserts that may be assembled and provide for modular assembly of shutters. 
    
    
     Further objectives of this invention will be brought out in the following part of the specification, wherein detailed description is for the purpose of fully disclosing the invention without placing limitations thereon. 
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES 
     The accompanying drawings which are incorporated in and form a part of this specification illustrate embodiments of the disclosed device and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention. 
     FIG. 1 depicts a perspective view of the cooperative engagement of louver-mounted gears with both racks which are operatively engaged within a stile mounted insert. 
     FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of the exterior of a shutter using the herein disclosed system. 
     FIG. 3 depicts a top view of the stile showing gear channel inserts having channels dimensioned for lateral translation of the racks therein. 
     FIG. 4 is a top end view of the stile showing the engagement of the gear communicating with the end of a louver and the second two geared sides of the racks which are engaged with a knob stem. 
     FIG. 5 depicts an exploded view of the knob assembly. 
     FIG. 6 depicts an exploded view of the knob assembly from the opposite view of FIG.  5 . 
     FIG. 7 shows an end view of a louver having an internal axle channel formed therein. 
     FIG. 8 depicts an end view of a louver with a louver axle engaged with the axle channel and both gear racks. 
     FIG. 9 is a top end view of the stile showing the cooperative engagement of the louver axle with both gear racks which are operatively engaged in channels formed in a gear channel insert. 
     FIG. 10 depicts an exploded view of a preferred means for cooperative engagement of the stiles and rails. 
     FIG. 11 shows an engaged stile and rail of FIG.  10 . 
     FIG. 12 is a top end view of an alternate embodiment of a knob assembly incorporating a clutch mechanism in the engaged position. 
     FIG. 13 depicts the knob assembly of FIG. 12 in a sectional view showing the clutch mechanism out of engagement. 
     FIG. 14 shows an exploded view of the alternate preferred embodiment of the knob assembly of FIG.  12 . 
     FIG. 15 depicts the pair of racks cooperatively engaged in two of four channels formed in the stile. 
     FIG. 16 shows an alternate embodiment of the racks engaged in two channels formed in the stile. 
     FIG. 17 depicts connector ends which may be formed on the racks as a means for assembly of racks from one or a plurality of rack components. 
     FIG. 18 is an assembled view of FIG.  17 . 
     FIG. 19 depicts an alternate preferred embodiment of the device using circular shaped racks geared about their circumference. 
     FIG. 20 depicts an assembly view of an alternate preferred embodiment of a louver having louver axles  24  with biased retractable ends in a retracted position. 
     FIG. 21 shows an assembled louver of FIG. 20 showing the louver axles biased to an extended position and cooperatively engaged between channels in a rack gear insert operatively mounted in a stile. 
     FIG. 22 depicts an alternate preferred embodiment of the device wherein the louver axle has a means for retainment in cooperative engagement with the stile. 
     FIG. 23 is a top view of FIG. 22 showing the louver axle with the retainment components engaged at the distal end of the louver axle. 
     FIG. 24 depicts an alternate preferred embodiment of a louver axle and its engagement with a louver. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE DISCLOSED DEVICE 
     Referring now to FIGS. 1-24 which depict the current best mode and preferred embodiments of the device  10 . FIG. 1 depicts a perspective cut away view of an assembled preferred embodiment of the device  10  showing one of the two sides of a frame formed by stiles  12  connected together by horizontal rails  14 . The assembled device  10  is depicted in FIG.  2 . The device  10  would have one stile  12  which operatively engages one side of the louvers  16  for imparting rotation thereto and the other stile  12  providing support to the opposite end of the louvers  16 . As best shown in FIG. 3, the stile  12 , which operatively engages the louvers  16  in the current best mode of the device, has an insert channel  13  formed to accommodate the operative mounting of a channel insert  29 . An additional function of the channel insert  29 , especially when formed of metal or strong plastic in the serpentine shape shown in FIG. 3, is to provide extra strength to the stile  12  into which it cooperatively engages. Of course those skilled in the art will recognize that other shapes might be used for the channel insert  29  and such are anticipated in the scope of this invention. This channel insert  29  can be extruded from plastic or metal or might also be formed of sheet metal to the proper dimensions to accommodate the laterally translating racks  32  and  36 . 
     A plurality of louvers  16  are rotationally mounted in the frame, shown in FIG. 2, such that they may rotate to a position overlapping each other in the conventional fashion that allows them to block light through the device  10  or be rotated to angles to form gaps  18  between the louvers  16 . The size of these gaps  18  and thus the light transmitted from outside into the room through the device  10  is determined by the angle at which the louvers  16  are positioned in relation to the plane of the window adjacent to the device  10  and the angle of the sun outside the window. 
     With the louvers  16  substantially perpendicular to the adjacent vertical window and forming the largest gap  18  there between, visual obstruction is minimized to the user since only the thin louver side edges  20  are positioned to block the view. Conversely, when the louvers  16  are angled at a position other than perpendicular in relation to the adjacent window, the large side surfaces  22  obstruct the view with total obstruction occurring when the louvers  16  are rotated to a position where the side surfaces  22  overlap and remove any gap  18  from in between the louvers  16 . 
     Since accurate adjustment of the angle of the louvers  16  is important to achieving the desired amount of light transmission through the device  10  it is highly desirable that the rotation of the louvers  16  be easily controlled to achieve the desired effect and that the louvers  16  maintain their adjusted position. Further, it is important to maintain all of the plurality of louvers  16  in the assembled device  10  at substantially the same angle in relation to the adjacent window and parallel to each other, and to keep the louvers  16  at that desired angle until the user decides to change it and the resulting size of the gaps  18  between the louvers  16 . 
     As shown in FIG. 1 each louver  16  is attached to a louver axle  24  which projects from both ends of the louver  16  substantially at the center axis  17  of the louver  16  to allow for even rotation of the louver  16  about the center axis  17  and to concurrently provide substantially parallel positioning of one louver  16  in relation to all of the other louvers  16  in the assembled device  10 . The louver axles  24  may extend through the entire louver  16  for extra support or it could just communicate into the ends of the louver  16  should the extra support not be desired. The louver axle  24  protruding at both ends of the louver  16  is rotationally engaged into channels  26  formed in both stiles  12 , as illustrated in FIGS. 9-11. These channels  26  are dimensioned for operative rotational engagement with the exterior circumference of the louver axles  24  such that the attached louvers  16  will easily rotate in position within the stiles  12  of the frame formed by the stiles  12  and rails  14  connecting them. Alternatively and in the current best embodiment, louver axle bushings  21  would be engaged within the insertion channels  26  and the louver axles  24  would rotate therein during operation of the device  10 . These louver axle bushings  21  would provide the best mount and guide for the exterior of the rotating louver axles  24 . However, the louver axles  24  might also just rotate in the insertion channels  26  and such is anticipated. 
     As it is highly desirable to have all of the louvers  16  move together and equally when adjusting the gap size  18  between the louvers  16 , which is best shown in FIG. 2, a means to maintain the louvers  16  substantially parallel to each other is provided by the surface of the exterior of at least the one louver axle  24  engaged with each louver  16  on one side of each respective louver  16 . The distal end of the louver axle  24  would have a geared surface which engages laterally translating rack gears operatively mounted in one stile  12 . The louver axles  24  on the opposite side need only be operationally engaged with the opposite stile  12  in the insertion channel  26  or the insertion channel  26  engaged axle busing  21  in the aforementioned fashion. The gear shape formed on the circumference of the louver axle  24  cooperatively engages with a first gear face  30  as shown in FIG. 8, on a first rack gear  32  and also with a first geared surface  34  on a second rack gear  36  in the preferred embodiment of the device  10 . As a result, if the louver axles  24 , communicating with each of the respective louvers  16 , are initially engaged with the first rack gear  32  and second rack gear  36 , when the louvers  16  are in a substantially parallel position to each other, all of the louvers  16  remain substantially parallel no matter what angle they are rotated to by the lateral translation of the first rack gear  32  on one side of the louver axle  24  and the concurrent and opposite lateral translation of the second rack gear  36  engaged with the opposite side of the louver axle  24 . 
     In a current preferred embodiment of the device  10  both the first rack gear  32  and second rack gear  36  are best engaged in channels  27  which are formed in a channel insert  29  which is mounted in an insert channel  13  formed in the stile  12 , as best seen in FIG.  3 . The provision of the channel insert  29  provides for easier manufacture of the device  10  and the use of metal or plastic for the channel insert  29  which would be better to cooperatively engage with the first rack gear  32  and second rack gear  36  which would be made from a metal or plastic material to best engage and translate in the material forming the channel insert  29 . However, channels  27  could also be formed in the stile  12  itself as shown in a four channel stile  11  and a two channel stile  15  in FIGS. 15-16 to house and accommodate the lateral translation of the first rack gear  32  and second rack gear  36  and still yield a major advancement over the art and such is anticipated. Or, the channels  27  might also be defined inside the stile  12  by other means of defining a straight guide channel such as providing a plurality of inserts that would be mounted into the stile  12  adjacent to the louver axles  24  with each having passages therethrough aligned to form the channels  27  to provide a guide for the lateral translation of the first rack gear  32  and second rack gear  37  inside the stile  12 . However the current best mode uses either the channel insert  29  or forms the channels  27  in the stile  12  itself. 
     Lateral translation of both the first rack gear  32  and second rack gear  36  in opposite directions inside the channel insert  29  in the current best mode is accomplished using a knob assembly  38  having a handle  40  engaged with a knob stem  42  either directly or on a threaded shaft  37  attached to the knob stem  42  as seen in FIGS. 5-6. The knob stem  42  has gear teeth  44  formed about the circumference of the center the knob stem  42 . The gear teeth  44  are dimensioned to cooperatively engage with the second gear face  31  of the first gear rack  32  and an concurrently with a second geared surface  35  of the second gear rack  36  as seen in FIG.  4 . As best shown in FIGS. 4-6, when the communicating handle  40  is twisted, it thus twists the gear teeth  44  formed on the knob stem  42  which laterally translate the engaged first rack  32  and second rack  36  in opposite directions and thereby rotate the louver axle  24  engaged on opposite sides by the first rack gear  32  and second rack gear  36 . A twist of the handle  40  thus rotates all of the louvers  16  evenly maintaining them parallel to each other during their rotation. 
     An additional benefit is derived from the use of both the first rack gear  32  and second rack gear  36  having substantially equal weights, to rotate and maintain the louvers in positions. As shown in FIGS. 7-8, the engagement of the first rack gear  32  on a first side of the geared surface of the louver axle  24  and the engagement of the second rack gear  36  with the opposite side of the louver axle  24 , a balanced force from gravity acting upon the equal weight of both rack gears  32  and  36  is continually imparted in both directions to the louver axle  24  thereby encouraging the louver axle  24  and connected louvers  16  to remain motionless especially when the device  10  is affected by bumping or vibration. 
     Another preferred embodiment of the device  10  disclosed herein might also have only one rack gear such as the first rack gear  32  engaged with the geared exterior end of the louver axle  24  and the gear teeth  44  of the knob assembly, while still providing an improvement on current devices available, and such is anticipated, However, the current best preferred mode features two rack gears. 
     In a preferred embodiment of the device  10  a knob assembly  38  configuration is provided which would allow for easy replacement of the knob  40  as well as internal parts should wear arise. A means to brake the lateral translation of the rack gears is also provided. As shown in FIGS. 4-6 the handle  40  would threadably engaged with a threaded shaft  37  communicating with a first end of the knob stem  42 , or otherwise be operatively mounted thereon. Also at this first end would be an outer axle  45  sized to operatively rotate in an appropriately dimensioned recess in the stile  12  and an inner axle  47  sized to operatively rotate in an appropriately dimensioned hole in the stile channel insert  29 . On the opposite end of the knob stem  42  an inner flange  58  of the knob hub  49  would be dimensioned for cooperative engagement with a recess in the stile  12  with an outer flange  57  sized slightly larger that this recess. At least one washer  43  would provide a vertical rotating surface between holes in the stile channel insert  29  and both the outer axle  45  and the knob hub inner flange  58 . A sleeve  55  is formed in the knob hub  49  and dimensioned to cooperatively engage the knob stem  42 . A screw  51  would be loosely inserted through a knob hub channel  60  and would be threadably engaged with a stem channel  59  axially located in the knob stem  42 . This entire knob assembly  38  can be easily installed with both rack gears in place inside the stile  12 . An additional benefit provided by this preferred embodiment of the knob assembly  38  is the ability to adjust the torque engagement of the screw  51  with the stem channel  59  such that pressure is imparted to the engagement of the outer axle  45  and knob hub  49  in their respective engagements in the stile  12 . This adjustable pressure provides a means to brake the movement of the rack gears as well as a clutch means to provide for slippage of the rack gears upon impact to the louvers  16  to prevent damage. 
     An alternate preferred embodiment of the knob assembly  38  of device  10  would have a positionable brake collar  46  included in the knob assembly  38  which would frictionally engage a braking surface  48  formed in the knob assembly  38  in a position to engage the brake collar  46  mounted on the alternative knob stem  33  and biased against the braking surface  48  by a biasing means communicating force to the brake collar  46  such as the depicted spring  50 . As shown in FIGS. 12-14 the brake collar  46  is mounted about the knob stem  33  which laterally translates in this embodiment of the knob assembly  38 . The spring  50  naturally biases the knob stem  33  and communicates that biasing force to the brake collar  46 .which frictionally engages the brake surface  48 . Using a biased brake to help maintain the louvers  16  in place not only maintains them in a steady user determined position chosen by the aforementioned rotation of the alternative handle  41 , the brake collar  46  being in a frictional engagement with the brake surface  48  thereby provides a clutch means to prevent damage to the louvers  16  if they are struck with sufficient force to move them since there will be slippage between the brake surface  48  and brake collar  46  after sufficient force is imparted. If the louvers  16  were locked in position by a mechanical engaged lock, severe damage could result to the louvers  16  or gear train which is avoided by the brake collar  46  also operating as a clutch means. Those skilled in the art will no doubt recognize that other designs might function as a clutch means with the disclosed device  10  and such other clutch means are anticipated. 
     In using the alternative knob assembly  38  depicted in FIGS. 12-14, the user would depress or force the handle  41  toward the knob assembly&#39;s  38  mount on the stile  12 . This force thereby depresses the spring  50  and laterally translates the alternative knob stem  33  to thereby disengage the brake collar  46  from its frictional biased engagement with the brake surface  48  of the knob assembly  38  and into a release position shown in FIG.  13 . Once depressed the handle  41  is twisted in the aforementioned fashion to communicate rotation to the gear teeth on the knob stem  33  which in turn laterally translate both the first gear rack  32  and second gear rack  36  to rotate the lovers  16  to the desired position or angle. Once that determined position is reached, the user just needs to release the pressure used to depress the handle  41  which will cause the spring  50  to again bias the brake collar  46  into frictional engagement with the brake surface  48  formed adjacent thereto and into a stationary position, thereby holding the entire geartrain in place and fixing the louvers  16 . The entire knob assembly  38  would be mounted in a conventional fashion using assembly screws  52  engaged through a rear casing  56  with the handle casing  54  positioned through an aperture communicating through the stile  12  in a position to provided the operative engagement of gear teeth  44  formed on the alternative knob stem  33  to engage with one or both gear racks  32  and  36  depending on the number chosen for construction of the device  10  with both being the current best mode due to the counter force and additional gear contact provided with two. The alternative knob  41  and knob stem  33  are cooperatively engaged with an attachment screw  53 . 
     As the frames generally mount adjacent to windows and doors which have substantially perpendicular sides, it is highly desirable to maintain the stile  12  perpendicular to the rail  14  for the life of the device  10  for both aesthetic and functional reasons. A preferred means for cooperative engagement of the stiles  12  and rails  14  perpendicular to each other is best depicted in FIGS. 10-11 by stile joint  61 . As shown, the rails  14  would have routing groves  63  dimensioned and positioned for cooperative frictional engagement with shoulders on a joint slot  62  formed in the stiles  12 . In this fashion the frame could be easily assembled, and the elongated frictional engagement of the shoulders on the joint slot  62  within the routing groove  63  maintains the perpendicular engagement of the rail  14  to the stile  12  for the life of the device  10 . 
     An optional embodiment of the device  10  would feature the means for cooperative engagement of a plurality of gear components to form the first rack gear  32  and second rack gear  36 . In this embodiment shown in FIGS. 17-18, a first piece of rack gear having a recessed end portion with a male connector end  64  would be mated to a second piece of rack gear having a female end connector  65  to form a single rack gear shown in FIG.  18 . This configuration would allow for assembly of the rack gears from a kit of smaller rack gear component pieces to form the appropriate desired length of rack gear for the first rack gear  32  or second rack gear  36 . 
     Also an optional embodiment of the rack gears is shown in FIG. 19 wherein the first rack gear  32  and second rack gear  36  would each be configured as round components and laterally translate in an appropriately sized and shaped gear channels  73  which would be formed in a stile  12 . This embodiment would have one set of gears  72  formed about the circumference thereby forming a first gear surface to cooperatively engage with both the knob stem  42  and louver axle  24  on two side edges. This round embodiment would work substantially the same as the aforementioned rectangular embodiments of the first and second rack gears. FIG. 19 also depicts well the engagement of the knob stem  42  in the configuration of a stile  12  without a channel insert  29  where the first and second rack gears would translate in channels formed in the stile  12  and engage with knob stem  42 , which when rotated translates the rack gears and all the communicating louver axles  24 . 
     FIGS. 20-21 show an especially useful option for the engagement of the louver axle  24  with the gears operatively housed inside the stile  12 . In this embodiment, the distal ends of the louver axle  24  on each side of the louver  16  would be retractable into the axle channel  19  formed in the louver  16 . These distal ends of the axle  24  would be biased toward their engagement in the stile  12  by a spring  25  or other means to bias the distal ends of the axle toward the stile  12 . This configuration with retractable louver axles  24  would make it especially easy to install and replace louvers  16  from the frames assembled from the stiles  12  and rails  14  since the distal ends of the louver axle  24  can simply be pushed into the louver  16  with the finger or a tool and then allowed to bias out and engage with the stile  12 . 
     An additional preferred embodiment of the device  10  allows for a secure mount of the louvers  16  in their operative engagement with the stiles  12  and also provides a means to prevent bowing of the stiles  12 , especially in larger assembled panels which tend to bow at the middle section of the stiles  12 . As best shown in FIGS. 22-23, the distal ends of the louver axle  24  would protrude through their operative engagement with the first rack gear  32  and second rack gear  36 , through an open section in the channel insert  29  and into a recess  70  formed in the exterior wall of the stile  12 . An outer axle bushing  23  would engage over the louver axle  24  in the recess  70  and against the distal outer surfaces of the channel insert and be retained thereon by a C clip  67  in a clip channel  69  formed adjacent to the end of the axle  24 . A clean finish to the exterior wall of the stile  12  is provided by an endcap  68  which frictionally engages with the wall surface of the recess  70 . Additionally, the engagement of the C clip  67  on both louver axles  24  maintains the outer axle bushings  23  on both ends a fixed distance from each other and provides a slight pressure to the outside surface of the stiles  12  should they start to bow, thereby providing a means to prevent bowing of the stiles  12 . As noted this would be especially helpful on taller frames with long stiles  12  which would naturally tend to bow outwardly, especially over time. 
     An alternative engagement of the louver axle  24  is shown in FIG. 24 which depicts the distal end of a louver  16  having a louver channel  80  sized to cooperatively engage with the circumference of the insertion stem  79  of the alternative louver pin  76  which also has an axle portion  77  and spaceracollar  78  to provide both a means to space the ends of the louvers from the frame and a stop for the lateral translation of the gear portion  81  into its engagement with the first gear rack  32  and second gear rack  36 . The preferred embodiment would provide for easy assembly, trimming for size, and thinner louvers  16  due to the flattened louver channel  80  and stem portion  79  engagement. 
     A still further benefit of the device  10  as described in the aforementioned embodiments, is the ability to supply a modular kit of parts wherein the user could build the device  10  to accommodate the particular window or door for which it is intended. This would be accomplished by providing a kit of different length stiles  12  with pre drilled insertion channels  26 . The kit would also feature a plurality of different lengths for the horizontal rails  14  which would easily engage with the stiles  12  using routing grooves  63  in the horizontal rails  14  that engage the joint slots  62  formed in the stiles  12 . Of course other means to cooperatively engage the ends of the horizontal rails  14  with the ends of the stiles  12  to form the complete frame, and such is anticipated, however the current scheme using joint slots  62  and routing grooves  63  works quite well and minimizes any tools or mechanical skills that might be required of the user. 
     By varying the lengths of the stiles  12  and horizontal rails  14  in a kit having a plurality of such lengths, virtually any dimension frame could be formed to fit varying sized windows and doors. One stile  12  would be formed to accommodate the appropriate length first gear rack  32  and second gear rack  36  internally which would also be from a kit of different length racks or may be assembled to the proper length using the mating system shown in FIGS. 17-18. Industry standard knob handles  40  could also be stocked in a variety of styles and mounted on-site to the standard knob stem  42  by using a threaded shaft  37  with threads to match those employed by conventionally available knob handles  40 . 
     The louvers  16  would of course also be provided in varying lengths to be easily insertable and rotatable in their engagements with the insertion channels. The louver pins  24  would work best in this kit form if they were retractable since the frame could just be assembled and then the louvers  16  inserted by retracting the louver pins. The various parts to the kit to form the frame and finished device  10  would be either stocked by a retailer and ordered from a precalculated chart to yield the correct size or they could be sold to users who would inventory a large selection of precut lengths of stiles  12 , horizontal rails  14 , and louvers  16 , to assemble the correct sized frame for the job at hand. Great utility from this kit form is provided both the do it yourself user as well as commercial users in that no cutting would be required to achieve the desired sized frame and the assembled device  10  would also have the benefit of the aforementioned components enhancing the function of the assembled device. Of course, unassembled custom do-it-yourself kits could also be ordered from the factory by customers with one or a few windows who would handle assembly themselves to save money both on manufacturing and shipping costs since no labor for assembly would be required by the manufacturer and since the parts in the kit would ship in a small package rather than as a large assembled and bulky frame. 
     While all of the fundamental characteristics and features of the present invention have been described herein, with reference to particular embodiments thereof, a latitude of modification, various changes and substitutions are intended in the foregoing disclosure and it will be apparent that in some instance, some features of the invention will be employed without a corresponding use of other features without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth. It should be understood that such substitutions, modifications, and variations may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Consequently, all such modifications and variations are included within the scope of the invention as defined by the following claims.