Patent ID: 7694482

Claim:
A blast resistant window blind system installed over a reinforced window pane supported by a window framework mounted in an opening in a wall of a structure, said window pane having an inside surface facing an inside of said structure and an outside surface facing an outside of said structure, comprising: a blind system comprising a plurality of parallel blind slats; a plurality of spaced pane engaging members disposed to extend across the inside surface of said window pane; first and second mounting bodies secured to said pane engaging members and configured to couple to anchor members disposed at first and second opposite ends of said opening, wherein said mounting bodies are fixedly secured to the anchor members to anchor the mounting bodies to the wall of the structure, said anchor members extending through a mounting body surface of said mounting bodies and secured thereto with fasteners, whereby said pane engaging members are coupled to said structure; and a plurality of energy dampening devices coupled to said pane engaging members, each of said energy dampening devices allowing said pane engaging members to extend a selected amount toward said inside of said structure upon impact of said window pane during a blast event, wherein said blind system and pane engaging members cooperate to restrain said window pane from being blown into the inside of said structure and conform to the inside surface of said window pane during impact therewith to distribute the restraining force across the inside surface of said window pane, wherein individual ones of said energy dampening devices are coupled between adjacent pane engaging members, wherein said pane engaging members comprise a plurality of steel restraint cables, and adjacent restraint cables are coupled together with at least a pair of energy dampening devices, and wherein each of said energy dampening devices comprises a tension spring having opposite ends thereof coupled between adjacent restraint cables.