Patent Publication Number: US-2017356242-A1

Title: Blind assembly and a winding device thereof

Description:
FIELD 
     The disclosure relates to a blind assembly and a winding device thereof. 
     BACKGROUND 
     A conventional blind usually has a cord operable to pull up or down a shade thereof. The cord may dangerously entangle with a child who plays with it, so cordless blinds have been provided in recent years. Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , U.S. Pat. No. 8,251,120B2 discloses a conventional cordless blind  1 , which includes first and second seats  11 ,  12  spaced apart from each other, a winding device  13  mounted on an inner side of the first seat  11 , a shaft  14  rotatably disposed between the second seat  12  and the winding device  13 , and a shade  15  wound on the shaft  14 . 
     The first seat  11  has two spaced-apart posts  111 ,  112 . The winding device  13  has a cover  131  disposed at the inner side of the first seat  11 , a roller  133  rotatably disposed on the post  112 , a linking member  134  interconnecting the roller  133  and the shaft  14 , and an S-shaped spring  132  having an end that is connected fixedly to the post  111  and an opposite end that is connected fixedly to the roller  133 , such that rotation of the roller  133  twists the S-shaped spring  132 . Since a resilient force of the S-shaped spring  132  when being twisted is equal to the weight of an unwound portion of the shade  15 , the shade  15  can be pulled up or down cordlessly to any desired extent. 
     The conventional cordless blind  1  enables the shade  15  to maintain at the desired extent and improves safety of use. However, referring to  FIG. 3 , when the conventional cordless blind  1  is adapted to be mounted between two window sides  101  of a window  10 , since the winding device  13  is disposed outside of the shaft  14  (i.e., the shaft  14  is between the winding device  13  and the second seat  12 ), a side of the shade  15  which is adjacent to the winding device  13  cannot be close to a respective one of the window sides  101  which is connected to the first seat  11 , thereby causing a relatively large light leakage gap therebetween that would affect the light-shading function of the conventional cordless blind  1 . 
     SUMMARY 
     Therefore, an object of the disclosure is to provide a blind assembly that can reduce the light leakage gap associated with the abovementioned prior art. 
     Accordingly, the blind assembly includes first and second side seats spaced apart from each other, a winding shaft, a shade member, and a winding device. The winding shaft has an end mounted rotatably to the second side seat, and that is formed with an internal passage. The shade member is wound on the winding shaft. The winding device has a fixing unit, a coupling barrel, and a scroll spring. The fixing unit has a fixing portion that is non-rotatably disposed on the first side seat, and a spring-mounting portion that extends in a direction opposite to the fixing portion. The coupling barrel is disposed in the internal passage, is co-rotatable with the winding shaft, is rotatable relative to the fixing unit, and has a barrel wall that defines a receiving space receiving the spring-mounting portion. The scroll spring is disposed in the coupling barrel, and has a fixing end disposed on the spring-mounting portion, and a connecting end disposed on the barrel wall of the coupling barrel, such that rotation of the coupling barrel relative to the fixing unit generates a resilient force of the scroll spring for retracting the shade member. 
     Another object of the disclosure is to provide a winding device that can be connected to a blind assembly. 
     Accordingly, the winding device is adapted to be connected to a blind assembly for disposing a winding shaft on a first side seat. The winding shaft is formed with an internal passage. The winding device includes a fixing unit, a coupling barrel, and a scroll spring. The fixing unit has a fixing portion adapted to be non-rotatably disposed on the first side seat, and a spring-mounting portion extending in a direction opposite to the fixing portion. The coupling barrel is adapted to be disposed in the internal passage and co-rotatable with the winding shaft. The coupling barrel is rotatable relative to the fixing unit, and has a barrel wall that defines a receiving space receiving the spring-mounting portion. The scroll spring is disposed in the coupling barrel. The scroll spring has a fixing end disposed on the spring-mounting portion, and a connecting end disposed on the barrel wall, such that rotation of the coupling barrel relative to the fixing unit generates a resilient force of the scroll spring that is adapted for retracting a shade member. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Other features and advantages of the disclosure will become apparent in the following detailed description of the embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which: 
         FIG. 1  is a partly exploded perspective view of a conventional cordless blind disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,251,120B2; 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic sectional view illustrating a winding device of the conventional cordless blind disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,251,120B2; 
         FIG. 3  is a front view of the conventional cordless blind disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,251,120B2 which is mounted between two window sides of a window; 
         FIG. 4  is a partly sectional view illustrating a first embodiment of a winding device according to the disclosure mounted to a blind assembly; 
         FIG. 5  is an exploded perspective view of the first embodiment; 
         FIG. 6  is an exploded sectional view of the first embodiment; 
         FIG. 7  is a sectional side view of the first embodiment; 
         FIG. 8  is a sectional front view of the first embodiment; and 
         FIG. 9  is a sectional front view of a second embodiment of the winding device according to the disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Referring to  FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 , a blind assembly  2  is illustrated to include a first embodiment of a winding device  20  according to the present disclosure, and to be mounted between two opposite sides  251  of a window structure  25 . The blind assembly  2  further includes first and second side seats  21 ,  22  spaced apart from each other, a rotatable winding shaft  23 , and a shade member  24 . The first side seat  21  has anon-circular positioning hole  211 . The winding device  20  connects an end of the winding shaft  23  to the first side seat  21 . The winding shaft  23  has an opposite end mounted rotatably to the second side seat  22 , and that is formed with an internal passage  231 . The shade member  24  is wound on the winding shaft  23 , and has a counterweight portion  241  being adjacent to a bottom end thereof. 
     The winding device  20  has a coupling barrel  3 , a fixing unit  4 , a scroll spring  5 , an end cover  6 , and a pin  7 . 
     The coupling barrel  3  is disposed in the internal passage  231 , and is co-rotatable with the winding shaft  23 . In this embodiment, the coupling barrel  3  has a barrel wall  31  defining a receiving space  32 . The barrel wall  31  has a hollow main portion  311 , an annular outer portion  312  extending outwardly from the main portion  311  and being proximate to the first side seat  21 , two first pin holes  315  angularly spaced apart from each other and extending through the main portion  311  and the outer portion  312 , two first spring grooves  316  formed in the main portion  311  and angularly spaced apart from each other, and four hook grooves  317  formed in the main portion  311  and being distal from the outer portion  312 . The barrel wall  31  further has an annular inner portion  313  extending inwardly from the main portion  311 , and that has a shoulder part  314  projecting inwardly into the receiving space  32 . Each of the spring grooves  316  has an entrance  318  that is formed at an end of the main portion  311  which is opposite to the outer portion  312 . 
     In this embodiment, the fixing unit  4  includes a fixing seat  41 , and a spring-mounting seat  42  coupled fixedly to the fixing seat  41 . The fixing seat  41  has a base plate portion  411  disposed outside of and abutting against the barrel wall  31  of the coupling barrel  3 , a fixing portion  412  extending from the base plate portion  411  and fittingly and non-rotatably engaging the positioning hole  211  of the first side seat  21 , a projecting portion  413  extending from the base plate portion  411  into the receiving space  32  of the coupling barrel  3 , a collar portion  410  extending from the base plate portion  411  toward the receiving space  32  and surrounding the projecting portion  413 , and four hook portions  414  extending from the collar portion  410 , surrounding the projecting portion  413 , and hooking the shoulder part  314  of the inner portion  313  of the barrel wall  31  of the coupling barrel  3 , such that the barrel  31  is rotatable relative to the fixing unit  4 . The base plate portion  411  has a second pin hole  415 . The pin  7  is U-shaped. The projecting portion  413  of the fixing seat  41  has an engaging hole  416 . 
     The spring-mounting seat  42  has an abutting portion  421  abutting against the projecting portion  413  of the fixing seat  41 , an engaging portion  422  extending from the abutting portion  421  and engaging fixedly the engaging hole  416  of the fixing seat  41 , and a spring-mounting portion  423  extending from the abutting portion  421  in a direction opposite to the fixing portion  412  of the fixing seat  41 , and received in the receiving space  32  of the coupling barrel  3 . In this embodiment, the spring-mounting portion  423  has two second spring grooves  424 , but the spring-mounting portion  423  may have only one second spring groove  424  in other embodiments. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 , the scroll spring  5  is disposed in the coupling barrel  3 , and has a fixing end  51  disposed on the spring-mounting portion  423  by engaging one of the second spring grooves  424  of the spring-mounting seat  42 , and a connecting end  52  disposed on the barrel wall  31  of the coupling barrel  3  by engaging one of the first spring grooves  316 . As such, rotation of the coupling barrel  3  relative to the fixing unit  4  twists the scroll spring  5  to generate a resilient force for retracting the shade member  24 . The counterweight portion  241  pulls the shade member  24  downwardly against the resilient force of the scroll spring  4 , thereby maintaining the shade member  24  at any desired state. Since the application of the interaction between the resilient force of the scroll spring  5  and the weight of the shade member  24  is known in the art, further details on the same are omitted herein for the sake of brevity. 
     The end cover  6  has a circular end wall  61 , and four cover hooks  62  extending from the end cover  61  and respectively engaging the hook grooves  317  of the coupling barrel  3  such that the end cover  6  is co-rotatable with the barrel wall  31 . The end wall  61  of the end cover  6  has a connecting hole  611  engaged rotatably with the spring-mounting portion  423  of the spring-mounting seat  42 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 5, 7 and 8 , when assembling the winding device  20  of this embodiment, a user needs to couple the fixing seat  41  to the coupling barrel  3 , engage the fixing end  51  of the scroll spring  5  with one of the second spring grooves  424  of the spring-mounting seat  42 , then install the spring-mounting seat  42  and the scroll spring  5  into the receiving space  32  of the coupling barrel  3 , and finally engage the connecting end  52  of the scroll spring  5  with one of the first spring grooves  316  through the entrance  318  thereof. Before the engaging portion  422  of the spring-mounting seat  42  engages the engaging hole  416  of the fixing seat  41 , the spring-mounting seat  42  is rotated relative to the barrel wall  31  for generating the resilient force of the scroll spring  5 . Afterward, the user pushes the spring-mounting seat  42  toward the fixing seat  41 , and fixes the spring-mounting seat  42  to the fixing seat  41 . At this time, the second pin hole  415  is registered with one of the first pin holes  315 , and the user can insert the pin  7  into the one of the first pin holes  315  and the second pin hole  415  for locking the fixing unit  4  to the coupling barrel  3 , thereby maintaining the resilient force. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 4, 7 and 8 , after the winding device  20  is installed into the internal passage  231  of the winding shaft  23  of the blind assembly  2 , the pin  7  is removed from the one of the first pin holes  315  and and the second pin hole  415 , so that the coupling barrel  3  is rotatable relative to the fixing unit  4  and the blind assembly  2  is ready for use. 
     Specifically, when the winding device  20  is mounted on the blind assembly  2 , the fixing portion  412  of the fixing seat  41  extends out of the internal passage  231  of the winding shaft  23 . The remainder of the winding device  20 , which is a significant portion of the winding device  20 , is received inside the internal passage  231 , so that one lateral side of the shade member  24  which is proximate to the winding device  20  would be relatively close to a corresponding one of the window sides  251  of the window  25 , that is, a light leakage gap that would be formed between the shade member  24  and the respective one of the window sides  251  can be reduced. 
     Referring to  FIG. 9 , a second embodiment of the blind assembly  2  according to the present disclosure has a structure similar to that of the first embodiment, except that the fixing seat  41  and the spring-mounting seat  42  are molded as one piece with the engaging hole  416  and the engaging portion  422  disclosed in the first embodiment being omitted. 
     In the description above, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific details have been set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that one or more other embodiments may be practiced without some of these specific details. It should also be appreciated that reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” an embodiment with an indication of an ordinal number and so forth means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic may be included in the practice of the disclosure. It should be further appreciated that in the description, various features are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure and aiding in the understanding of various inventive aspects. 
     While the disclosure has been described in connection with what is considered the exemplary embodiment, it is understood that his disclosure is not limited to the disclosed embodiment but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.