Patent Publication Number: US-5524690-A

Title: Support device for a curtain movable in two mutually orthogonal directions

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     This invention relates to a support device for a curtain, in particular for a room with at least a floor and a wall in relation to which the curtain is hung. 
     There are two types of curtains already known to the art and commercially available, which we will refer to as &#34;traditional&#34; curtains and &#34;box&#34; curtains: the first are curtains that move between appropriate guides of their various support devices in a direction essentially parallel to the floor, and the second are curtains that move in a plane perpendicular to the floor. 
     Use of such prior art curtains often depends on the taste of the decorator or user of the room in which they are hung. Sometimes, however, the choice depends on specific functional requirements. 
     In this regard, consider walls with windows that run the entire height of the walls. With windows of this kind, box curtains cannot be used, because their usual support device, with associated raising mechanisms that guide the movement of curtains of this kind, cannot be mounted near to the windows without impeding or at least hampering their opening. 
     Therefore, even if the user wishes to use box curtains, deeming them more consonant with the decorating style of the room or perhaps merely more in harmony with his sense of aesthetics, he is obliged to select and use traditional curtains, for which the support device can be produced with dimensions that do not interfere with the opening of the curtain. 
     SUMMARY 
     These and other objects that will be obvious to one skilled in the art are accomplished by a curtain support device, in particular for a room with a floor and at least one wall in relation to which the curtain is hung, characterized in that it comprises at least one guide element along which can slide at least one curtain raising mechanism designed to guide the movement of a corresponding cord, tape or the like connected to one end of the said curtain opposite the end near the said guide element, said movement of the cord resulting in the raising of the curtain or a portion thereof with respect to the floor, there being control means to allow for the movement of the cord through the corresponding raising mechanism and the sliding of the latter along the guide element, said sliding resulting in the displacement of the curtain or at least a portion thereof on a plane essentially parallel to the above-mentioned floor. 
     The object of this invention, therefore, is to describe a curtain support device that allows a curtain to move in the manner typical of conventional &#34;box&#34; curtains and in the manner typical of &#34;traditional&#34; curtains, either separately or in combination. 
     Another object is to describe a device of the aforesaid kind that is simple, easy to make and mount and modest in cost. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     For a better understanding of the invention, the following drawings are given strictly by way of example and not of limitation, in which: 
     FIG. 1 is a partial perspective view of the device pursuant to the invention mounted in the proximity of a window; 
     FIG. 2 is a schematic, split perspective view of the device in FIG. 1, showing the characteristic elements thereof; 
     FIG. 3 shows another, different embodiment of the invention in perspective view similar to that of FIG. 2. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, the device 1 pursuant to the invention supports a curtain 2 hung by a window 3 located in a wall 4 of a room A, said room having a floor P and a ceiling S. 
     The device 1, attached in a conventional manner to the wall P or the ceiling S of the room A comprises (in the example shown in FIGS. 1 and 2) a channel or channel-like element 5 defined by a section 6 in which at least one guide track 7 has been created; in the latter are movably positioned a plurality of rings or sliding elements 8 and bearings 9 for raising mechanisms 10 for the movement of corresponding ropes or cords 11 connected to one end 12 0f the curtain 2. Said mechanisms, by moving the cords raise the curtain 2 from the floor P, said raising motion occurring on a plane essentially parallel to the wall 4. 
     To the channel-like element 5 are also connected two end closings or caps 13 and at least one arm 14 designed to support a shaped shaft with a polygonal cross-section 15. Said arm is positioned near one end 16 of the shaft 15; the other end 17 of it in turn interacts with a conventional chain control mechanism (or the like) 18 affixed to element 5 through a bearing element 19. Each raising mechanism 10 is mounted on the shaft 15. 
     More specifically, each ring or sliding element 8 and each bearing 9 have one end 20 shaped, in the example shown in the drawings, essentially like a mushroom, the enlarged head 21 of which interacts with the track 7, while a stem 22 connects the aforesaid head with an annular member 23 (for each sliding element 8) or with a block 24 (for each bearing 9). 
     Each annular member 23 interacts with a hook 25 affixed (by sewing or otherwise) to a first tape 26 permanently attached to one end 27 of the curtain 2 close to the device 1. 
     To each block 24, on the other hand, is affixed, by a restrained joint, for example, an arm 30 on which is rotatably mounted a roller 31; the latter has a groove 32 in which is wound, in a manner conventional in itself, a corresponding cable 11. The said block bears a ring 28 designed to interact with a hook 29 affixed to the abovementioned tape 26. 
     Alternatively, said block 24 may be formed in one piece with the arm 30. 
     The latter has an end 34 shaped like a ring in which the shaft 15 fits. The latter penetrates a hole 35 in the roller 31, said hole having a cross-section complementary to that of the shaft 15 to allow for torsional interaction between the roller and the said shaft 15. Said roller 31 however, may slide along the shaft 15. 
     From the arm 30 extends a conventional bearing 36, on the end of which is mounted a prior art turnbuckle 37 for the cable 11. 
     The arm 30, the roller 31 and the elements connected to them constitute a raising mechanism 10 for a cable or cord 11. 
     The control mechanism 18 is a conventional control mechanism with chain 40 for the movement of &#34;box&#34; curtains and will therefore not be described in greater detail. 
     Said mechanism 18 is connected to the bearing element 19 in some prior art manner (for example, by restrained oint between corresponding parts 19A and 18A). Element 19 has one end 41 shaped essentially like a &#34;C&#34; and affixed by a screw 42 to element 5. 
     An analogous end 43 is found on the arm 14 supporting the shaft 15, said end being affixed to element 5 by means of a screw 44. The arm 14 also has another end 45 in the shape of a ring, in which the shaft 15 is positioned. The arm 14 also has mounted on it a stiffening rib 46. 
     Inside the channel-like element 5 is positioned a cord 50. Said cord has two parallel sections 50A and 50B emerging from a closing 13 in such a way that they are free to move; in the other closing 13 the cord 50 is folded back in a &#34;U&#34; (possibly by passing over redirecting pulleys present in said element), thereby creating the aforesaid sections. 
     On said cord 50, finally, is mounted a draw slide 55 that slides within the track 7. Said slide allows for movement of the curtain 2 parallel to the wall 4. 
     For that purpose, pulling on one of the sections of the cord 50 (depending on whether the curtain 2 is spread across the window 3 or drawn aside with respect to it) causes the slide 55 to move within the track 7. By interacting with the rings 8, it causes them to move (slide) within the channel-like element 5. 
     As a result of that sliding motion, the curtain 2 is drawn parallel to the wall 4 along the floor P (arrow F in FIG. 1); it should be noted that when the slide 55 is moving, not only do the rings 8 slide in the track 7, but the bearings 9 also slide. This means that each roller 31 also slides on the (fixed) shaft 15. 
     Now, pulling on the chain 40 causes the shaft 15 to rotate (in a manner conventional in itself). That rotation is transferred to the roller 31, which in moving winds up on itself the cable 11, thereby raising the curtain 2 (arrow G in FIG. 1) with respect to the floor P. 
     It should be noted that in order to maintain tension on the curtain 2, weights 60 are provided at least at the points of attachment of the cables 11 to the end 12 of the curtain; alternatively, a metal chain can be positioned along that entire end. 
     FIG. 3 shows another possible embodiment of the invention. In this drawing, parts that correspond to those in FIGS. 1 and 2 are labelled with the same reference numbers. 
     In the drawing in question, the raising mechanisms 10 consist of simple static redirecting elements 70 in the form of rings. 
     The redirecting elements or rings 70 (conventional in themselves) have a hook-like element 71 designed to interact with a corresponding annular element 72 affixed to the curtain 2, thereby linking the curtain with the corresponding ring 70. 
     The latter in turn is designed to slide within the guide element 5. 
     For that purpose, each ring 70 has (in the example in FIG. 3) a mushroom-shaped end 73 with a head 74 designed to slide in the track 7 and a stem 75 connected to the annular portion of the ring. 
     Operation of the device as shown in FIG. 3 is analogous to that in FIGS. 1 and 2. 
     In fact, pulling on the extensions 11A of the cords 11 (passing through a redirecting mechanism 80 attached to element 5 like the abovementioned mechanism 18 in FIGS. 1 and 2) makes the latter slide in the redirecting elements 70 and raises the curtain like a &#34;box curtain.&#34; 
     Pulling on cord 50, on the other hand, makes the curtain move like a &#34;traditional curtain.&#34; 
     Examples of possible embodiments of the device pursuant to the invention have been described, in which getting the curtain 2 to move like a &#34;traditional curtain&#34; is achieved by pulling on cord 50. 
     Obviously, the same movement can be accomplished by pulling directly on the curtain and drawing it along a plane parallel to the floor P; at the same time, the raising mechanisms 10 permanently attached to the curtain are drawn along with it. 
     In addition, other embodiments of the invention are possible, such as an embodiment that comprises an arrangement of the mechanisms 10 in the form of rollers 31, free to slide along the shaft 15 and not firmly fixed to a channel-like element 5; in such case the guide element becomes the aforesaid shaft 15, and the movement of the rollers may be activated by moving the curtain 2 as previously described. 
     A device pursuant to the invention makes it possible to perform a &#34;box&#34; or &#34;conventional&#34; motion with the curtain 2, in other words, to perform a raising motion or an at least partial sliding motion with said curtain 2 with respect to the floor P. 
     Such motion can be performed by means of control mechanisms 40, 50 either separate from each other or united in a single mechanism.