Patent Publication Number: US-2009223640-A1

Title: Hanger assembly for displaying the louvers of vertical window blinds

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates to an assembly used for the louvers of vertical window blinds and particularly to a hanger assembly used for displaying the louvers of vertical window blinds in a selling exhibition where a consumer chooses for different styles. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     In order to allow a consumer to easily choose the louvers of window blind with different materials or in different colors, a business owner generally overlaps vertical louvers with the same size, shape, color and design, and arranges them into a group of louvers and uses a suspender to hang it on a display rack for the consumer to choose. 
     In order to make better hanging of the louvers of vertical window blinds effective for display, a hanger assembly for displaying the louvers of vertical window blinds is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,446,932 and 6,164,617, in which the hanger unit comprises a hanging assembly, in which a pin assembly and a suspension portion is provided at a top end of the hanging assembly and a fixing portion is provided extending from a bottom end of the hanging assembly; a opening is formed passing through the suspension portion and two protuberances or a support plate is provided in parallel on the fixing portion around under the opening and exactly against a top end of the vertical louvers, and a locating hole is formed at a bottom end of the two protuberances or support plate; the pin is made of an elastic rubber into a head and body extending from a bottom end of the head, in which an external diameter of the head is larger than an aperture of the hanging hole of the group of louvers and several fixing parts protruding equidistantly on the body of pin. The pin passes through the hanging hole of the louvers so that the head of pin is definitely located outside one side of the vertical louvers, and the end of pin passes through the locating hole of hanging assembly so that the hanging assembly is definitely located outside the other side of the group of louvers. With the protuberances (or the support plate) and the elastic part that work with each other, the vertical louvers may be securely hanged on the hanger unit. 
     Although the conventional hanger assembly may easily hang the vertical louvers and definitely locate the vertical louvers, at the time of shipment, the hanging assembly protruding out of the groups of louvers occupies more space and increases the cost of stock and shipment and when being shipped or carried, the groups of louvers crowd and collide with each other, causing the hanging assembly to be damaged. 
     Consequently, because of the technical defects of described above, the applicant keeps on carving unflaggingly through wholehearted experience and research to develop the present invention, which can effectively improve the defects described above. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In this invention, a hanger assembly for displaying the louvers of vertical window blinds is provided. The group of louvers comprises a plurality of overlapping louvers, and a hanging hole is formed passing through an end towards a major axis of the group of louvers. The hanger assembly comprises a hanging member and a connection member, in which the connection member is provided passing through the hanging hole of the group of louvers, in which one end is formed at a predetermined position of the hanging member and the other end is provided with at least a stopper that is corresponding to an extreme outside of the group of louvers to locate the group of louvers in the hanging hole of hanging member to axially wiggle. 
     According to this invention of the hanger assembly for displaying the vertical louvers, the group of louvers is pivoted onto the connection member with the combination of the connection member and hanging hole. At the time of shipment, the hanging member may be housed in the group of louvers so that the group of louvers may be neatly placed in a box, preventing the hanging member from being damaged by collision during shipment, and the louvers may be easily hanged on a shelf for display by the hanging member. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a view of the appearance of an assembly in a first preferred embodiment of this invention; 
         FIG. 2  is an exploded view of the first preferred embodiment of this invention; 
         FIG. 3  is a sectional view of the assembly in the first preferred embodiment of this invention; 
         FIG. 4  is a schematic view illustrating the service of assembly in the first preferred embodiment of this invention; 
         FIG. 5  is a schematic view illustrating the assembly hanged on a rack in the first preferred embodiment of this invention; 
         FIG. 6  is a sectional view of the assembly in a second preferred embodiment of this invention; 
         FIG. 7  is an exploded view of a third preferred embodiment of this invention; 
         FIG. 8  is a view of the appearance of the assembly in the third preferred embodiment of this invention; 
         FIG. 9  is a view of the appearance of assembly in a fourth preferred embodiment of this invention; 
         FIG. 10  is a sectional view of the assembly in the fourth preferred embodiment of this invention; and 
         FIG. 11  is a sectional view of the assembly in the fourth preferred embodiment of this invention after a hot stamping is applied. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Now, the present invention will be described more specifically with reference to the following embodiments. It is to be noted that the following descriptions of preferred embodiments of this invention are presented herein for purpose of illustration and description only; it is not intended to be exhaustive or to be limited to the precise form disclosed. 
     Refer to  FIGS. 1 and 2  as respectively a semblance view and an exploded view of a hanger assembly working with a group of louvers  10  in a first preferred embodiment. 
     The group of louvers  10  comprises a plurality of overlapping louvers  11 , and a hanging hole  12  is formed passing through an end towards a major axis of the group of louvers  10 . 
     The hanger assembly mainly comprises a hanging member  20 , a connection member  30 , and a contractive membrane  40 . 
     The hanging member  20  mainly comprises a suspension portion  21 , from which a connection portion  22  integrally extends downwards. In the embodiment, the suspension portion  21  is in a form of hook. The connection portion  22  is a rectangular slab through which a round connection hole  221  is formed passing. 
     The connection member  30  is pivoted onto the connection hole  221 , comprising a first fastener  31  and a second fastener  32  that are made of adequately rigid metal or plastics, in which the second fastener  32  may be a rivet or a screw. In the embodiment, the screw is taken for example; the first and second fasteners  31  and  32  are respectively provided with first and second heads  311  and  321  and first and second bodies  312  and  322 ; the first and second heads  311  and  321  in external diameter are respectively larger than hanging hole  12  of the group of louvers  10  in aperture and the first and second bodies  312  and  322  on external diameter, in which a tapped hole  313  is formed at a bottom end of the first body  312  and an external thread  323  is formed on the second body  322 . 
     The contractive membrane  40  wraps around a surface of the group of louvers  10 , and the first and second heads  311  and  321  and the connection portion  22  are respectively outside two ends of the membrane  40 . 
     In order to further make apparent the structural features, applied skill and manners, and expected effects according to this invention, what are applied in this invention are in detail described, and it is thus believed that this invention is thoroughly and concretely apparent, as described below. 
     As shown in  FIG. 3 , when assembled, the first body  312  and the second body  322  pass through the hanging hole  12  of the group of louvers  10  from a rear portion of the group of louvers  10  and a front side of the hanging member  20  respectively to screw each other. The first head  311  and the connection portion  22  are respectively located outside the contractive membrane  40  so as to position the group of louvers  10  between the hanging member  20  and the first head  311  of first fastener  31  and make it wiggle along an axis of the connection member  30 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 4 , for storage, a user may rotate the hanging member  20  and keep the suspension portion  21  close to the front side of the group of louvers  10 , causing the suspension portion  21  not to protrude out of the group of louvers  10  for reduction of more occupied space and prevention of damage due to collision. Further, the contractive membrane  40  is used to wrap around the surface of group of louvers  10  to prevent the surface of vertical louvers  11  from being damaged during shipment. 
     With reference to  FIG. 5 , for use, the user may rotate the hanging member  20  to make the suspension portion  21  extend out of the group of louvers  10 , thereby being convenient for the group of louvers  10  to be hanged on a rod-like display shelf. Further, the contractive membrane  40  is used to wrap around the surface of group of louvers  10  to prevent the surface of vertical louvers  11  from being damaged during display. 
     With reference to  FIG. 6  as a sectional view of the assembly of a second embodiment of this invention, the structure and function of the hanger assembly that is disclosed in this invention is the same as that in the first embodiment of this invention, and what is slightly different is in that no contractive membrane  40  wraps around the surface of the group of louvers  10 . With reference to  FIGS. 7 and 8  respectively as a exploded view and a assembly view of a third embodiment of this invention, the hanging member  20  is a slab in a water-drop form, in which the suspension portion  21  is a round slab, a circular aperture  211  is formed passing through the center of suspension portion  21 , and the connection hole  221  is formed on the connection portion  22 . 
     The major structure and function of the hanger assembly disclosed in this invention is approximately the same as that in the first preferred embodiment of this invention, and what is slightly different is in that the connection member  30  is an organic-whole single member provided with a head  33  and at last a leg pillar  34  that extends axially from the bottom of head  33  adequately and is pivoted onto the connection portion  22 . 
     At the time of assembly, the leg pillar  34  is made to pass from the rear of connection portion  22  through the connection hole  221 , the contractive membrane  40 , and the hanging hole  12 , sequentially. The leg pillar  34  protrudes outside the front of the group of louvers  10  and is provided with a transformed section (not shown) that may be bent to form a stopper  341  definitely locating the group of louvers  10  between the hanging member  20  and the stopper  341 . 
     Practically, the leg pillar  34  may be in the form of hollow plastic column, of which the stopper  341  may be formed and enlarged after being applied with a hot stamping. The round leg pillar  34  may be still provided with a smooth surface so that the group of louvers  10  may axially wiggle along the leg pillar  34 . 
     With reference to  FIGS. 9 through 11  respectively as a semblance view and an assembly sectional view of a fourth embodiment of this invention, the structure and function of the hanger assembly is approximately the same as that in the preferred embodiment of this invention, and what is different is in that the connection member  30  is integrally formed on the connection portion  22  of the hanging member  20 . The connection member  30  is provided with a round hollow leg pillar  35 , being made of adequately rigid plastics. The contractive membrane  40  wraps around the surface of group of louvers  10 . 
     At the time of assembly, the leg pillar  35  is made to pass through the contractive membrane  40  and the hanging hole  12 , and a transformed portion  351  of the pillar  35  that protrudes outside the group of louvers  10  is formed. The transformed  351 , after being applied with the hot stamping and thus enlarged, is formed with a stopper  352  that protrudes outside the contractive membrane  40  corresponding to the surface of vertical louvers  11  extremely outside the group of louvers  10  and the group of louvers  10  may axially wiggle along the leg pillar  35 . In the embodiment, the leg pillar of the connection member  30  may also be made of an adequately rigid metal, of which the transformed portion  351  that protrudes out of the group of louvers  10  may be further bent to form the stopper  352 . 
     Here, the features and attainable expected effects of this invention are described again below. 
     In this invention, the connection member is provided at one side of the hanging member, of which a predetermined portion passes through the hanging hole; the smooth surface of the connection member is used to make the group of louvers axially wiggle along the predetermined portion of the connection member, and the hanging member may be further housed in the group of louvers so that the group of louvers may be orderly placed in the box for easy packing and shipment; the contractive membrane is used to wrap around the surface of group of louvers, preventing the surface of group of louvers from being scratched. 
     While the invention has been described in terms of what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention needs not be limited to the disclosed embodiment. On the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims which are to be accorded with the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar structures.