Abstract:
The present invention provides for an improved guide to be used in assembly of various types of window treatments, including roman and hobble shades. In particular, the invention provides for a slotted arcuate guide, a shade including such a guide, and assembly of a shade using such a guide. The improvement in the guide results in faster assembly. Each arcuate guide is slotted to permit the vertical cord or a loop to be fed through it after the remainder of the shade is assembled.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/744,610 filed Apr. 11, 2006 and incorporated herein by reference. 
     
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    A. Field of Invention 
         [0003]    The present invention pertains to window treatments and more particularly to an improved roman or hobble shade. The shade is formed of a panel mounted on a plurality of horizontal rods. The rods are provided with slotted cord guides and at least one cord is threaded through the guides and used to control the movement of the rods as the shade is selectively raised or lowered. 
         [0004]    B. Description of the Prior Art 
         [0005]    Roman and hobble shades are commonly used for covering windows and doors. Each shade is comprised of a panel made of a soft, pliable material which is mounted to a plurality of horizontal rods attached at a predetermined spacing to the material, and a lifting mechanism including vertical cords used for suspending the material. These elements are arranged so that when the material and rods are pulled up by the cords, portions of the panel between the rods fold up to form an esthetically pleasing layered look and may allow light to shine into a room. The panel can also be extended flat to decoratively cover or shade a surface or to block light from shining into a room. When extended fully downward, some hobble shades do not sit fully flat but rather form pleats even in the downward position. 
         [0006]    Guides, which may be attached to the rods, are used to guide the vertical cords. In some cases, the vertical cord is fed through the guides whereas in other cases, the cord is attached to a plurality of loops which themselves are fed through the guides. Assembly of such shades can be time consuming because they generally require advanced feeding of the cords or loops through the guides before the guides are attached to the rods and lifting mechanism. Therefore, an improved roman or hobble shade which improves the time for assembly is required. 
         [0007]    A roman shade with a very complex structure is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,124,801. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0008]    The present invention provides for an improved guide to be used in the assembly of window treatments, including roman and hobble shades. In particular, the invention provides for slotted arcuately shaped guides, a shade including such a guide, and assembly of a shade using such a guide. The shade panel itself is comprised of a substantially flat piece of soft, pliable material which is mounted to a plurality of horizontal rods attached to the panel at a predetermined spacing, and a lifting mechanism including vertical cords used for suspending the panel. These elements are arranged so that when the panel and rods are pulled up by the cords, portions of the panel between the rods fold up to form an esthetically pleasing layered look. 
         [0009]    The improvement in the guide results in faster assembly. Each arcuately shaped guide is slotted to permit the vertical cord or a loop to be fed through it after much or all of the remainder of the shade is assembled. 
     
     
       DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0010]      FIG. 1A  shows a back elevational view of an existing roman shade; 
           [0011]      FIG. 1B  shows details of how the panel of the shade of  FIG. 1A  is connected to the rods; 
           [0012]      FIG. 1C  shows a plan view of a typical cord guide attached to the rods of the shade of  FIG. 1A . 
           [0013]      FIG. 2  shows a plan view of an improved cord guide constructed in accordance with this invention; 
           [0014]      FIG. 3  shows an elevational view of a cord for a “hobbled” type window shade used in conjunction with the cord guide of  FIG. 2  to lift a shade; 
           [0015]      FIG. 4  shows an elevational view of the cord of  FIG. 3  engaging the cord guide of  FIG. 2 ; and 
           [0016]      FIG. 5  shows a partial elevational view of a shade using the improved cord guide of  FIG. 2 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0017]    A typical roman shade  10 , as shown in  FIGS. 1A ,  1 B and  1 C, includes a panel  12  made of soft, pliable material. Typically the panel  12  is made of one or more plies of a woven fabric or other materials. The bottom edge  14  of the panel is captured by a rod  16 . In addition, several other rods  18  are provided at intermediate points along the panel and are attached thereto using, for example, a mechanism disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,273,096 incorporated herein by reference. 
         [0018]    The shade  10  is hung so that the rods  16 ,  18  are oriented horizontally. The shade  10  is further provided with a plurality of cords, such as cord  20 . A cord is provided at each of the lateral edges of the panel  12 . Intermediate cores may also be provided, if necessary. One end of each cord is attached to an end or bottom post  22 . The cord  20  passes through cord guides  24  attached to the rods  18  as shown in  FIG. 1A . 
         [0019]    The cord guides generally have a D-shape and are also referred to as D-rings. A typical cord guide  24  is shown in  FIG. 1C . It includes a generally straight base  26  that is attached to the rod  18  and an arcuate body  28 . 
         [0020]    When the shade  10  is lowered, it extends across a respective window or door opening. The panel can be sized and shaped so that it is generally flat along the whole window. Alternatively, the panel can be oversized with respect to the height of the window so that the panel forms a pocket P, as shown in  FIG. 1A . 
         [0021]    A problem with the existing roman shades is that during assembly the cord  20  has to be threaded by hand through the cord guides  24 . This is a very slow process and renders the fabrication of a roman shade  10  very labor intensive. 
         [0022]    In order to solve this problem, in the present invention a roman shade is provided with a modified cord guide  30 . This cord guide  30  shown in detail in  FIG. 2  also has a base  32  and an arcuate body  34 . The base  32  includes a means for attachment to a rod  18 , such as by screw, tongue in groove sliding onto the rod, or other commonly known means for assuring that the base  32  and rod  18  remain generally immobile to each other. However, the arcuate body is made with a slot or channel  36 . This slot  36  may be straight, but it may alternatively be formed either radially or at any angle desired. In the preferred embodiment, the slot has a curved or other convoluted shape. In  FIG. 2 , the slot  36  is S-shaped. The width of the slot  36  is approximately equal to the diameter of cord  20 ; however, the guide  30  can be made from a material that is sufficiently flexible to be stretched and to allow the cord to enter and then return to its original shape. Alternatively, the cord  20  can be made of a compressible material. 
         [0023]    In the preferred embodiment, a roman shade can be made in accordance with this invention by attaching one end of cord  20  to the post  22 , attaching the other end of the cord to a lifting mechanism (not shown), and then inserting the intermediate portion of the cord into the cord guides  30  through slots  36 , as shown in  FIG. 5 . Alternative, the cord  20  can be inserted into the guide  30  before one or both of its ends are attached. However, because the cord can be inserted into the guide without threading its end therethrough, the resulting shade can be assembled much faster. 
         [0024]    The slot  36  can have a uniform thickness, or as shown in  FIG. 2 , the slot may be wider near its exterior end  36 A to ease entry of the cord. 
         [0025]    The roman shade is opened by pulling the cords up thereby raising the bottom rod  16 . This motion causes the rods  18  to stack on top of rod  16  and the panel portions between the rods  18  bunch up and fold over each other. 
         [0026]    The roman shade described so far can have at most one major pocket on the bottom because as the shade is lowered, the rods  18  slide along the cord  20  and drag the panel along. Another type of shade referred to herein as a hobbled type shade in which the loops are sewn or otherwise secured at regular intervals along the cords and the loops are then attached at regular intervals along the panel. One such cord  38  is illustrated in  FIG. 3  with straight portions  40  and loops  42 . Generally the length of the straight portions is the same. The panel portions between loops have a width (or height) larger than the corresponding cord length between the loops, and, as a result, when the shade is lowered, the panel portions along the whole length of the shade fold into natural pockets and provide an esthetically pleasing look. However, until now a hobble-type shade could not be made effectively using the rods  18  and guides  24  because the loops  42  would have to be sewn individually after they pass around each guide  20 . 
         [0027]    Another embodiment of the present invention is applicable to either kind of shade. For the hobble-type shade, the cord  38  is first made with any desired length and loop spacing. Each loop  42  is then pushed through the slot or channel  36  of one of the guides  30  as shown in  FIG. 4 . Then, when the shade with this structure is lowered, the panel portion at the end of each straight portion  40  stops and forms a panel pocket. 
         [0028]    While the invention has been described with reference to several particular embodiments, it is to be understood that these embodiments are merely illustrative of the principles of the invention. Accordingly, the embodiment described in particular should be considered exemplary, not limiting, with respect to the following claims.