Patent Publication Number: US-2015068689-A1

Title: Cord locker of roman shade

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates generally to a window covering, and more particularly to a cord locker of a roman shade. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Typically, a conventional roman shade is provided with a shade member and a plurality of cords fastened at a back side of the shade member that the shade member may have a clear look. The shade member usually is provided with rings at the back side for the cords to pass through. Theses rings are hook-like members, which may disengage the cords while the cord is pulled to prevent the shade member from being damaged by the cords and avoid an accident while the kid pull out the cord and wind it around his/her neck. Another conventional roman shade is provided with a double-layer shade member, and the cords are received in the shade member so that no one is able to touch the cords. Some shade members are provided with cord tubes to receive the cords therein. 
     However, there still are some unsolved problems in the conventional roman shade, such as how much transverse force is needed to disengage the cords with the rings? It is hard to calculate and manufacture. For the roman shade with double-layer shade member or cord tubes, it makes the cost of the roman shades higher, and makes them heavier. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a cord locker of a roman shade, which connects the cord to the shade member in a safe and easy way, and makes the cord unable to be pulled out thus make it a safe product. 
     According to the objective of the present invention, a cord locker of a roman shade includes a base and a rotary member. The base has two protrusions and a resting face. The protrusions are on the same side of the base and face each other. The rotary member is pivoted on the base and between the protrusions. The rotary member has a top end and a bottom end, whereby a distance between the top end and the resting face and a distance between the bottom end and the resting face will change when the rotary member is turned. 
     In an embodiment, each protrusion of the base has a hole; the rotary member has a board and two posts on opposite sides of the board; and the posts engage the holes of the protrusions respectively. 
     In an embodiment, the cord locker further includes a wear-resisting member attached to the rotary member and facing the resting face of the base. 
     In an embodiment, the base has a transverse plate and two lateral plates on opposite ends of the transverse plate; the resting face is formed on a side of the transverse plate; and the protrusions are provided on the lateral plates respectively. 
     In an embodiment, the cord locker further includes a connector having two arms and two hooks on distal ends of the arms. The transverse plate has a bore, and each lateral plate has an opening; and the arms of the connector pass through the bore of the transverse plate, and then the hooks engage the openings of the lateral plates respectively. 
     In an embodiment, the cord locker further includes at least a clipping arm on the transverse plate of the base, wherein the clipping arm is on a side which is opposite to the resting face. 
     In an embodiment, the cord locker further includes two clipping arms on the transverse plate of the base, wherein the clipping arms are on a side which is opposite to the resting face, and a clipping space is formed between the clipping arms. 
     In an embodiment, the base has a bore, and each protrusion has a hole communicated with the bore; the rotary member has a portion received in the bore and has a portion out of the bore; a post is provided on the portion of the rotary member in the bore to engage the holes of the protrusions; a cord hole is provided on the portion of the rotary member out of the bore for a cord passing there through. 
     The design of the cord locker connects the cord to the shade member in a safe and easy way, and furthermore it may lower the cost. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the roman shade of a first preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the cord locker of the first preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  is a sectional view along the  3 - 3  line of  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 4  and  FIG. 5  are exploded views of the cord locker of the first preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 6  is a sectional view of the cord locker of the first preferred embodiment of the present invention, showing the rotary member being pulled out by the cord; 
         FIG. 7  is a perspective view of the cord locker of a second preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 8  is a perspective view of the cord locker of a third preferred embodiment of the present invention; and 
         FIG. 9  is a perspective view of the cord locker of a fourth preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       FIG. 1  shows a roman shade  100  which is provided with a plurality of cord lockers  10  of the first preferred embodiment of the present invention. The roman shade  100  includes a headrail  20 , a shade member  30 , and two cords  40 . The cord lockers  10  are connected to a back side of the shade member  30  in two rows for the cords  40  to pass through. Each cord  40  has an end connected to a drum (not shown) in the headrail  20  and the other end fastened to a bottom end of the shade member  30 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 2  to  FIG. 5 , the cord locker  10  has a base  12 , a rotary member  14 , a wear-resisting member  16 , and a connector  18 . The base  12  has a transverse plate  121  and two lateral plates  122  to form an H-shaped member. The transverse plate  121  has a resting face  121   a  and a bore  121   b.  The lateral plates  122  are parallel to each other, and are on opposite ends of the transverse plate  121 . Each lateral plate  122  has an opening  122   a  and a protrusion  123  on a distal end thereof. The protrusion  123  has a hole  123   a.    
     The rotary member  14  has a board  141  and two posts  142 . The board  141  is a rectangular member, and the posts  142  are on opposite ends of the board  141 . The posts  142  engage the holes  123   a  of the protrusions  123  respectively to pivot the board  141  on the base  12 . The rotary member  14  has a top end  14   a  and a bottom end  14   b.  A distance between the top end  14   a  and the resting face  121   a  and a distance between the bottom end  14   b  and the resting face  121   a  are changeable by turning the rotary member  14 . The cord  40  passes through a gap between the rotary member  14  and the transverse plate  121  of the base  12 . 
     The wear-resisting member  16  is an optional accessory to be secured to the board  141 . As shown in  FIG. 4 , the wear-resisting member  16  has a front plate  161  facing the resting face  121   a  of the base  12 . The wear-resisting member  16  protects the cord  40  to reduce the damage of wearing and tearing. 
     The connector  18  is fixed to the back side of the shade member  30 , as shown in  FIG. 4 , which has two flexible arms  181  and two hooks  182  on distal ends of the arms  181 . The arms  181  pass through the bore  121   b  of the transverse plate  121 , and then the hooks  182  engage the openings  122   a  of the lateral plates  122  respectively to secure the base  12  to the connector  18 . The arms  181  are able to be pressed inwards to disengage the base  12  with the connector  18 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 6 , while one is holding the cord  40  between two cord locker, and pulling the cord  40  with a force F, it will turn the rotary members  14  of the cord lockers  10  above and under in opposite directions. At the same time, the top end  14   a  of the rotary member  14  of the cord locker  10  above and the bottom end  14   b  of the rotary member  14  of the cord locker  10  under will be moved toward the resting faces  121   a  , thus to press the cord  40  onto the resting faces  121   a.  As a result, the cord  40  will be securely locked and is unable to be pulled out anymore. The movements of the rotary members  14  are happening in a very short time, so that there is a short portion of the cord  40  being pulled out only, and that portion of the pulled out cord shall not be a strangulation hazard for a kid. 
     In  FIG. 1 , the shade member is constructed by transverse bamboo strips. The shade member may be constructed by blanket, e.g. fabric blaket, as well. Typically, the blanket is provided with a plurality of transverse poles at the back side thereof. 
       FIG. 7  shows a cord locker  50  of the second preferred embodiment of the present invention, which includes the rotary member  14  and the wear-resisting member  16 . The cord locker  50  is provided with a connecting member  52  at a back side of a base  50  instead of the connector  18 . The base  50 , the same as above, has a transverse plate  521 , two lateral plates  522  and two protrusions  523 . The connecting member  52  has two arched clipping arms  524  projected from the back side of the transverse plate  521  to form a clipping space therebetween. The clipping arms  524  are able to clip to a transverse pole  32  of the shade member  30  to secure the cord locker  50  to the back side of the shade member  30 . The connecting member  52  could be any kind of conventional connector, such as O-ring, C-ring or U-shaped clipper. The connecting member  52  connects the base  50  to the shade member  30 , and makes it unable to rotate. 
       FIG. 8  shows a cord locker  55  of the third preferred embodiment of the present invention, which is directly connected to a transverse pole  34  of the shade member  30  (not shown) without the connector  18 . The transverse pole  34  is a hollow pole with a bore  34   a.  The cord locker  55  has a transverse plate  56 , on opposite sides of which two protrusions  57  and two clipping arms  58  are provided. The clipping arms  58  are directly projected from a back of the transverse plate  56 . Each clipping arm  58  has a hook  58   a  at a distal end thereof. The hooks  58   a  of the clipping arms  58  engage the bore  34   a  of the transverse pole  34  to connect the cord locker  55  to the back side of the shade member. The same as above, the rotary member  14  is pivoted on the protrusions  57  for free swing. 
       FIG. 9  shows a cord locker  60  of the fourth preferred embodiment of the present invention, which includes a base  62 , a rotary member  64 . The same as the second preferred embodiment, the base  62  has two clipping arms  62   a  to secure the base  62  to the transverse pole  32 . The base  62  has two protrusions  63  and a bore  62   b  between the protrusions  63 . Each protrusion  63  has a hole  63   a  communicated with the bore  62   b.  The rotary member  64  has a portion received in the bore  62   b.  The rotary member  64  has a post  66  to engage the holes  63   a  to pivot the rotary member  64  on the base  62 . The rotary member  64  has a portion out of the base  62 , on which a cord hole  64   a  is provided. The cord  40  passes through the cord hole  64   a.  If the cord  40  is pulled, it will turn the rotary member  64  and make the rotary member  64  press the cord  40  onto a resting face  62   c  of the base  62 . As a result, the cord  40  will be securely locked and unable to be pulled anymore. 
     With the designs of above, the cord locker of the present invention provides the rotary member to be moved by the cord and to securely lock the cord at the same time when the cord is pulled. If the cord is pulled harder, the rotary member will provide a greater strength to secure the cord accordingly. With the cord locker of the present invention, there will be no need to have the double-layer valance or the cord tube used in a conventional roman shade. Therefore, the cost will be reduced. 
     The description above is only a few preferred embodiments of the present invention and the equivalence of the present invention is still in the scope of claim construction of the present invention.