Retractable shade with collapsible vanes
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A retractable cover for architectural openings having collapsible vanes includes a support structure in the form of a sheet of material, monofilaments, tapes, ribbons, cords, or the like, supporting an upper edge of a plurality of vertically spaced, horizontally extending vanes with the lower edges of the vanes in most embodiments of the invention being connected to operating elements adapted to raise the lower edges of each vane toward the upper edges to define openings or gaps between the vanes through which vision and light can pass in an open condition of the covering. Variations of the covering do not require movement of a lower edge of a vane relative to an upper edge but simply movement of some vanes relative to other vanes. The vanes can be made of materials having different flexibilities and where more rigid materials are used, creased fold lines can be established for desired operability.
71 Citations
60 Claims
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1-10. -10. (canceled)
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11. A panel for use in a covering for architectural openings moveable between open and closed positions comprising in combination:
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a set of parallel lift elements, a set of parallel operating elements disposed in substantially the same plane as the lift elements, at least one strip of material having first and second parallel edges, said first edge of each strip being secured to said lift elements and said second edge to said operating elements such that movement of said operating elements in a first direction relative to said lift elements causes the strip to be in a substantially flat closed position and substantially in the same plane as said lift and operating elements, and movement of said operating elements in an opposite direction relative to said lift elements causes said second edge of said strip to be moved toward said first edge in an open position. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60)
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20. A covering for an architectural opening movable between open and closed positions comprising in combination:
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an elongated substantially cylindrical roller, a set of elongated parallel lift elements having one end secured to the periphery of said roller along a first longitudinally extending line, a set of elongated parallel operating elements having one end secured to the periphery of said roller along a second longitudinally extending line, said second line being circumferentially spaced from said first line, a plurality of strips of material having first and second parallel edges, said first parallel edges being secured to said lift elements and said second parallel edges being secured to said operating elements such that the lift and operating elements are disposed in substantially the same plane where they are secured to the strips of material, said operating elements being longitudinally movable relative to said lift elements to move said first and second edges toward and away from each other to move said covering between open and closed positions and said lift and operating elements as well as said strips of material being wrappable about said roller. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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30. A covering for an architectural opening movable between open and closed positions comprising in combination:
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an elongated roller of generally cylindrical configuration, a flexible sheet of material secured at one edge to the periphery of said roller along a first longitudinally extending line of attachment, a set of operating elements secured at one end to said periphery of said roller along a second longitudinally extending line of attachment circumferentially spaced from said first line of attachment, a plurality of strips of material, each strip having first and second parallel edges, said first parallel edges being intermittently secured to said sheet along a first set of parallel spaced lines so as to define unsecured locations along said spaced lines, said second edges being secured to said operating elements at spaced locations along the length of said operating elements, said operating elements slidably extending through said unsecured locations and being operative to selectively move said second edges toward and away from said first edges upon pivotal movement of said roller in moving the covering between said open and closed positions. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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36. A panel for use in a covering for an architectural opening comprising in combination:
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a plurality of elongated, parallel, spaced flexible elements, and at least one rectangular strip of material having an edge and a tab formed along said edge, said tab being coupled to said flexible elements along an interface of said elements with said tab. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42)
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43. A panel for use in a covering for an architectural opening comprising in combination:
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a plurality of elongated, flexible elements disposed in parallel relationship in a common plane, and a plurality of first and second strips of material positioned adjacent to said common plane, each of said first and second strips of material having first and second edges, said first edges of said first and second strips being secured together and being secured to less than all of said flexible elements along first juncture lines with the remainder of the flexible elements passing slidably through said first juncture lines, said second edges of said first and second strips being secured together and being secured to said remainder of the flexible elements, so that the first and second strips of material form a plurality of collapsible cells therebetween and the flexible elements are operative to selectively collapse the cells by moving said second edges of said strips of material toward said first edges. - View Dependent Claims (44, 45, 46, 47)
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48. A panel for use in a covering for an architectural opening comprising in combination:
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a plurality of flexible elements disposed in parallel relationship in a common plane, a plurality of backing strips, and a plurality of strips of fabric, said strips of fabric being secured to said backing strips along lines of attachment with said flexible elements disposed therebetween. - View Dependent Claims (49, 50)
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51. A panel for a covering for use in an architectural opening comprising in combination:
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a vertically suspended flexible support structure, a set of parallel operating elements disposed in substantially the same plane as said support structure, at least one strip of material having first and second edges, said first edge being secured to said support structure and said second edge being secured to said operating elements such that movement of said operating elements in a first direction relative to said support structure causes the strip to be in a substantially flat position and substantially in the same plane as said support structure and said operating elements, and movement of said operating elements in an opposite direction relative to said support structure causes said second edge to be moved toward said first edge.
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52. A covering for an architectural opening movable between extended and retracted positions comprising in combination:
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a panel of vertically extendable flexible material having an upper edge and a lower edge;
a headrail including a roller about which the panel of material can be wrapped, said upper edge of the panel being secured to the periphery of said roller, and a movable stop; and
a bottom rail secured to the lower edge of said panel, said bottom rail being engageable with said stop in the headrail to arrest rotation of the roller in one direction when the covering is being retracted.
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53. A covering for an architectural opening movable between extended and retracted positions comprising in combination:
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a panel of vertically extendable, flexible material having an upper edge and a lower edge;
a headrail including a roller about which the panel of material can be wrapped, said upper edge of the panel being secured to the periphery of said roller; and
a bottom rail connected to said lower edge and including at least two component parts pivotally connected together.
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54. A covering for an architectural opening movable between extended and retracted positions comprising in combination:
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a panel of vertically extendable, flexible material having an upper edge and a lower edge;
a headrail including a roller about which the panel of material can be wrapped, said upper edge of the panel being secured to the periphery of said roller;
said panel including a support structure and a plurality of horizontally extending strips of material supported thereon, said strips having an upper edge secured to said support structure and a movable lower edge and a plurality of operative elements secured to said lower edge of the strips of material and to said roller to selectively move said lower edge of said strips toward the upper edge; and
a bottom rail including a curvilinear surface and further including an element operatively secured to said operative elements and extending around said curvilinear surface before being connected with said support structure whereby said element moves around said curvilinear surface as said lower edge of strips is moved toward the upper edge of said strips.
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Specification