Patent ID: 7686059

Claim:
A covering for an architectural opening comprising: a head rail, a bottom rail an intermediate rail, blind material interconnecting said bottom and intermediate rails, a first control system interconnecting said head rail and said intermediate rail, said first control system including at least two flexible first lift elements, a first horizontal drive shaft in said head rail having at least two first wrap surfaces operatively associated therewith and about which at least one of said at least first lift elements can be wrapped, a first operating element for selectively and reversibly rotating said first drive shaft whereby said at least one of said first lift elements can be wrapped about or unwrapped from said first wrap surfaces, and a first releasable brake system for preventing rotation of said first drive shaft when it is not rotated by said first operating element, a second control system interconnecting said head rail and said bottom rail, said second control system including at least two flexible second lift elements, a second horizontal drive shaft in said head rail having at least two second wrap surfaces operatively associated therewith and about which at least one of said at least second lift elements can be wrapped, a second operating element for selectively and reversibly rotating said second drive shaft whereby said at least one of said second lift elements can be wrapped about or unwrapped from said second wrap surfaces, and a second releasable brake system for preventing rotation of said second drive shaft when it is not rotated by said second operating element, and a pair of separate cradles, each respective cradle receiving both of said drive shafts, and wherein each respective cradle receives at least one of the at least two first wrap surfaces and at least one of the at least two second wrap surfaces.