Patent ID: 8616261

Claim:
An end retention system for a rolling shutter assembly, the system comprising: a guide track having a length; a slat having two ends, a first edge and a second edge, and a profile width; a means at one end of the slat for attachment of a fastener, the entire profile of the slat end configured to be retained by the guide track, and to travel along the length of the guide track, the guide track having a lengthwise cross-section comprising a channel having a channel width, a channel depth, and an opening in the channel width, the opening defined by first and second retention fins spaced an opening distance apart, the opening distance sufficient to accommodate the entire profile of a slat end so as to allow the slat end to travel the length of the guide track in the opening, the end retention device comprising: a fastener capable of being attached to the slat end, the fastener comprising a shaft, having a shaft diameter and a shaft length, wherein the shaft extends for the shaft length from the slat end when the fastener is attached to the slat end, and a head having a head width attached to an end of the shaft distal from the slat end; a freely rotatable washer, the washer having an outer diameter greater than the profile width and smaller than the channel width, the washer comprising an inner aperture having a diameter that is at least twice the shaft diameter but smaller than the head width, wherein the shaft is disposed within the inner aperture of the washer such that the washer is capable of sliding along the shalt length, canting about an axis perpendicular to the shaft length, and moving perpendicular to the shaft length when the fastener is attached to the slat end; wherein the head and the washer are disposed in the channel of the guide track when the slat end having an end retention device is retained in the opening of the guide track, and wherein the slat engages other identical slats and conforms to a roll inside a shutter casing, wherein the washer moves about the shaft such that the washer repositions itself when contacted washer on another identical slat when conformed to a roll.